Naruto: Rise of Kazama Naruto
by NocturnalSin666
Summary: AU "I was born in War; screaming and the clashing steel was the first sound I heard, my first sight was of a hundred thousand dying around me, the very first breath of life I took was of death itself. I, have seen the curse of the Shinobi World and I despise it! He gave me a chance and I in turn will protect those I cherish, with my own blood stained hands." Strong/Realist Naruto
1. Prologue: The Beginning

**This is my second attempt to my original Naruto story, I've taken the time to redo much of my previous way of thinking and I feel comfortable enough to give this another try. But before we begin let me lay down a few things to know beforehand. Naruto was born during Kushina's generation, he will be different from his canon self. The rest you may find out for yourself.**

**Now with that all out of the way, on we go!**

* * *

"_My teammates said for me too leave him be, to turn around, and walk away as if I never saw him. Yet something in me cried out to help this child and now I know what that feeling was... it was my humanity.'' **~Hatake Sakumo**_

**Naruto: Rise of Kazama Naruto**

Prologue: The Beginning

_It is said there can be no life without death, and just the same if there was no death then there would be no life. There can be no inequality between Life and Death, there must be a balance between the two so that the cycle can continue. So that the natural course that was set up for mankind was never disrupted. For they knew, it was an instinctual matter for all of mankind, that if something disrupted the natural order of their world. It would cause an imbalance in the cycle that was created to flow endlessly, and because of that imbalance than they knew the world was doomed to the consequences of it._

_The imbalance happened long ago before the Era of Shinobi, by the actions of a woman desperate to end all conflict and death...and the consequence..._

_Was the birth of the Shinobi Era..._

_And the place of this was the Elemental Nations, a massive continental landmass that scoured much of the planet with a vast number of smaller islands dotting the continent. And it was on this continent of which all it's denizens and inhabitants were made to suffer for centuries for the consequences of disrupting the natural order. This suffering was through another cycle that was formed, an endless loop that always went on with chaos, destruction, and death with no counter balance of peace, calm, and tranquility._

_War, Death, Strife, and Pain. An endless cycle that soaked the Elemental Nations in the blood of it's son's and daughters for hundreds and even thousands of years. None knew peace, no temporary relief, no calm. Only endless conflict that spilled constant bloodshed and caused death in every corner of the world. It was a land, a world where the darkest of mankind thrived as they lusted for power, where the greedy took from the weak and killed anyone that stood in their way. It was a world where the strong and influential controlled the weak and helpless._

_Truly, Death had its shadow cast over this world for so long no one truly knew what it meant to have a peace of mind. No one was spared from the violence, men and women were thrown into the fires of War to protect their villages and even to fight for their Daimyo's desire for more land and influence. Hell some fought to protect themselves and flee as far as they could from the conflict._

_And the children...the children were made to suffer these horrific acts at tender ages some were taught to kill as soon as they could walk. Their first gift would often at times be a kunai to kill and take the life of another. As they grew, they were left damaged, scarred and beyond repair by the violence of the world that they were brought into. While some developed a mindset that they were born to only kill and be killed in return. As if it was all a demented game created by the Kami, playing with their life's as they saw fit._

_It was...a Hell on Earth..._

_But... what happens when you have an irregularity in this chaotic world? What if this anomaly was born by the very consequences that were created by the one who caused this hell? What happens if you have a child, a mere newborn that was not born like other unborn children are, became that anomaly? A child that was cursed the very moment he was conceived to be a miraculous yet cursed gift to the world. A child whose very first sensation when he was brought into this world was the warm sensation of lying in a puddle of his dead mother's blood. His very first breath of life was the inhaling of a thousand dying around him. The very first thing he would see when opening his eyes is a blood red sky and a battlefield engulfed by the elements and swarmed with the bodies of hundreds of dying men and women?_

_This is the story of that child, the child born through the consequences that were created by the desire of a woman who angered a God and disrupted the natural order._

* * *

**Border of Oni no Kuni**

Hatake Sakumo, age 18, had seen his fair share of violence, and warfare in his rather short career of being a shinobi. He still remembered his first kill when he was thrown on the battlefield for the sake of protecting his village, Konohagakure. The memory was still fresh in his mind, as was the other memories of all the other atrocities and genocides he'd committed in the name of Konoha. War had quickly taught Sakumo that war was never clean, it was dirty, it was grizzly and it would test your mettle every moment you took a breath.

However, he'd surpassed every limit thrust upon him when he first became a shinobi, he was already becoming a rising supernova in Konoha's shinobi ranks. Already beginning to overshadow the Hokage's very own students, his very name was beginning to strike fear into the hearts of every enemy shinobi. Some even became fearful of even being on the same battlefield as him, some even fled at the mere mention or sighting of him. It was a reputation that was built upon all of his victories and accomplishments as a Konoha Shinobi.

So yeah, Sakumo had seen his fair share of all that War could possibly throw at him. He thought he would be mentally prepared for just about anything now since he was more seasoned. More tempered and worn by all the chaos war had too offer. However, that was not the case as he stood upon what was supposed to be a Kumo incursion that was coming through Oni no Kuni and was said to be traveling right to Konoha's backdoor.

That Kumo incursion was now reduced to what he and his squad saw, and that was _hundreds_ of Kumo shinobi corpses lay strewn upon the dark crimson soil. None of them were even recognizable as their bodies were far too mutilated to even be described. Some were just lumps of flesh, every single one was either bisected by the waist or dismembered. The stench of death and blood was so putrid it encompassed the entire battlefield. Organ's were falling or sliding out of the bodies of the many shinobi and kunoichi while others seemed to have been crushed.

''What... happened here?'' one of his teammates, Uchiha Suryu, muttered whilst his other teammate, Shimura Issei squatted down and grabbed a pinchful of the dirt they stood upon. And his intense brown eyes narrowed when he felt the sticky substance mixed into the dirt, and he took a small sniff and frowned in disgust as he threw it down.

''Whatever happened here it was recent the blood's soaked into the soil and it's still fresh. Who or _whatever_ that did this must still be nearby, be cautious.'' he warned to which Suryu took in stride while Sakumo was still shocked at the bloody display laid out before him. His trained eye took in the blood spectacle with keen awareness as the shock began to fade away.

_'This couldn't have been done by a shinobi it's far too sloppy plus there is only a handful of shinobi I know that are powerful enough to wipe out this large of a force. And none of them have been sighted in this area so... what could have done this?'_

_Snap!_

His ears twitched as the sound of a twig snapping caught his attention, so did his two teammates and they spun around kunai in hand, but what they saw would forever be burned into their minds for the rest of their life's.

It happened so slow...

It was a wounded Kumo shinobi, his eyes were completely wide in fright and he was crawling towards them as he was missing _both _legs. His hand went out to them, trembling as he was he was able to speak out in a fumbling mutter. Even as blood leaked from his mouth, nose and ears.

''H-help me...he's...he's...a monster...'' than his and their eyes widened a shadow walked out from the grass behind him. And the wounded shinobi turned to look and soon let out a horrified scream.

''No...no...NO! NOOO! Stay away from me! Help...help meeee!'' he screamed towards the Konoha shinobi just before the shadow vanished before the "shadow" landed on the shinobi's spine which followed a harsh crack from the man's spine. He was about to let a howl of agony just before a tiny hand wrapped around his mouth before a bloody kunai impaled itself from the back of his skull and in-between his eyes. Thus silencing him forever, ending his life in one swift moment.

And it was than three shinobi saw just who it was that just killed the shinobi. The "shadow" turned out to be something they never expected it to be.

''Oh my Kami...'' Suryu whispered, and Issei and Sakumo could understand his shock for it was a child, a boy to be exact, that barely even reached 5 year's old. He was of average height for a child his age, but that the only similar thing he shared with other children. For his clothing was barely still clinging to him, being only in tatter's and it seemed too many sizes small for him. You couldn't tell what color they were since the boy was literally drenched in blood. From his very long spiky hair which seemed to be stained in crimson blood to his bare feet. His hair dripped with blood while torn flesh and bits of organ and brain matter was stuck underneath his nails. He would have looked like a child raised on the street's as a beggar and sewer rat without all the blood.

However they noticed the bloody kunai gripped fiercely in his right hand and both Suryu and Issei stood up straighter, tense and nervous. Getting ready if the child attacked them as well.

But Sakumo was a whole other case entirely as he stared at the boy, his shock slowly began to fade and be replaced with a deep depressed look in his eyes. For as he looked upon the child he saw the way his body was barely standing, relying solely on adrenaline and the boy's own willpower. How he knew this? Simple.

It was the boys face which was non-expressive, seemingly dead to the world while six bloody line marks marred his cheeks. His eyes on the other hand told Sakumo all he needed to know. His own dark black eyes met a pair of emotionless azure, eyes that had no life in them, they were as lifeless as the corpses strewn around the boy. There was no life in those eyes, no sense of purpose, no drive, nothing. He saw nothing in this kids eyes besides the instinctual drive to _survive._

_Survival Instinct _had awakened in this boy...

Slowly Sakumo raised his hands dropping his kunai as he did so causing his teammates to look at him strangely. Than Sakumo walked towards the motionless child who had been staring at them almost like a statue before his gaze pinned directly on the Hatake.

''Be at ease, we mean you no harm...'' he said as his teammates glared at his back, thinking Hatake had finally gone insane or something. ''What the hell are you doing Sakumo! Get away from that kid! There's something really off about him!'' Issei shouted whilst Suryu seemed to agree with a nod. Although, his Uchiha pride was wounded, something even deeper than silly pride was telling him to run, to flee as far and as fast as he could from this kid.

''I agree, I think we need to just turn around, walk away and think as if we never saw this whole incident happened. We can always tell Hokage-sama that the mission had false information or something.'' he said, yet Sakumo did nothing, but shake his head. He was displeased, disappointed with the way his teammates were reacting to this kid. Yes, his eyes were not natural, but what Sakumo saw right now was a boy relying on his instincts to survive in a world like theirs, all on his own.

He didn't see an unnatural kid...he saw a child that needed help.

Although it wasn't all that uncommon to find kids that were younger then you, but were far more deadly and stronger than some of the strongest Jonin shinobi. This kid was probably the youngest of those types he'd ever seen. Yet, something urge Sakumo to help this child, to help him and pull him out from this blood filled abyss he was stuck in.

He took each step forward slowly and cautiously, dropping all of his weapons as he did to show he was completely unarmed. Yet the kid was still gripping onto his kunai with fervor, but Sakumo was a patient man, year's of warfare had tempered his patience.

''It's alright... I'm not going to hurt you... I just want to help you, where are your parents?'' he asked whilst the boy seemed to answer with simplicity.

''Never knew them...died when I was...born.'' he said causing Sakumo to frown, that was a similar case with all children born in times of war.

''Then who raised you? Where is your caretaker?'' he asked and the boy answered in kind. ''A friend of fathers...raised me...until he died...when I was 3. I been living in forests ever...since.'' he answered, his lack of education was evident due to the way he was speaking. Yet Sakumo was amazed that this kid had been living on his own like this since he was 3 year's old. Sure, he'd heard of equally stranger stories, but still it was shocking to hear. Still he inched closer to the boy who had yet to even let up in his stance.

''I see, that is quite amazing for a kid your age. Now why don't you tell me, what happened here? Did...did you kill all of these shinobi?'' he asked and the boy at this point looked down at all the dead people with not a single emotion in his dead blue eyes. As if he was seeing nothing of significance or noteworthy, yet he finally gave a nod.

''Yes...they...trampled my...home...and...I stole this...and stabbed one...then another...and another...and another. I couldn't stop until they fell...until they fell asleep again.'' he said gripping the kunai. Sakumo felt his eyes widen truly at this news, but quickly pushed down his shock for the time being as he inched closer to the boy.

''I see, you were defending your home, you are in the right. Now...'' he said before he kneeled down so he was eye level with the boy. His eyes warm and inviting to the boys cold and dead blue ones. ''Seeing as your home is gone, why don't you come with me? I know a place that will treat you greatly, my village is just a few days of travel from here. What do you say?'' he said with a smile while ignoring his teammates gestures for a big 'no!' and a 'Don't invite the murdering child to Konoha, teme!'

The boy seemed to tilt his head as he stared at Sakumo with an almost inquisitive expression before he spoke. ''Will they...attack me, hurt me?'' he asked, at this Sakumo hesitated. Konoha was very wary of war orphans, especially now in these times when a kid was a viable option to be a sleeper agent or a Kamikaze time bomb from another village. But as he looked at the boy he could tell he was neither of those. He was just a kid that was trying to survive, fighting tooth and nail to survive in this world. His will to help this boy grew beyond levels as he looked at him, he felt if he left this boy alone something important to him would die along with it. And he knew what it was...

It would be his humanity, what made him human would die if he left this child to fend for himself.

''No, they won't hurt you, not while I am with you. So, will you come with me?'' he said reaching out with his hand to which the boy seemed to eye for the longest moment with a monotone expression before his grip on the kunai loosened for the slightest moment.

''….Ok...''

Sakumo would have let out a giant sigh of relief as the boy reached out and grabbed his hand with his much smaller and bloody one. At this, Sakumo decided to introduce himself. ''Good, my name is Hatake Sakumo, what's yours?'' he asked and at this the boy blinked before he looked up at the sky with what seemed like a glazed expression.

''My name is...Naruto...'' he said before looking directly at Sakumo.

''_Kazama Naruto._''

And so it was, with Sakumo's selfless act in saving this child that he had altered the wheel of destiny and weaved the fate of the world in a whole new direction. And whether that direction was good or bad, shall remain unseen.

For the future was always changing...

**Konoha-East Gates**

Sakumo let out a exhausted sigh of relief as he saw the gates of his beloved village coming into view. He looked over his shoulder to see his teammates were just as exhausted if not more so. It had been a long tiresome trek back from Oni no Kuni and back to the borders of Hi no Kuni. They had ran into a few mercenary camps and rogue Kumo, Iwa and even Suna shinobi, but in the end they'd finally made it into the borders of Hi no Kuni in 3 days time. They'd passed the Konoha border patrol on the way and feeling more assured of no more ambushes they high-tailed it at the break of dawn on their fourth day.

Than Sakumo's eyes landed on his newest addition to his squad, the boy he had picked up from the location of where their mission was supposed to take place. Instead, he'd found this boy in the middle of the complete genocide, and even more surprising the very same boy who had committed the genocide. His teammates had complained about bringing the boy along, but he'd hear none of it and muted them out for the rest of the trip.

Every child deserved their chance to live out their life's no matter how dark and terrible their life's were beforehand. He was just glad to give this boy that new chance and no manner of complaining from his teammates would change that.

Nevertheless, he'd figure he would need to carry the boy as they would need to travel at shinobi speeds, but the boy proved to be surprisingly very skillful in tree-jumping which Sakumo theorized that the boy must have learned how to do it from living out in the woods alone. Which was amazing in of itself since tree-jumping took a good amount of chakra control, knowing at least the basic tree-climbing exercise. It also required endurance and stamina to be able to keep up the chakra flow at the soles of your feet otherwise you would risk slipping and falling which would prove to be fatal at times. And good enough control so you didn't slip, but also didn't accidentally blow yourself off the tree.

So, Sakumo was pretty amazed the boy seemed to know this exercise, it took even himself, at the age of 7 to learn the tree-climbing exercise and that was with the aid of his parents help at the time. This boy on the other hand had no one, but himself to actually learn and master a basic chakra control exercise which is made many more levels difficult when you only have yourself.

Self-taught technique, remarkable.

There was another thing Sakumo learned about the boy as he traveled with him and that was the fact the boy had a very abnormal level of endurance. Having not even broken a sweat with even keeping up with seasoned shinobi with tree-jumping, and even at Jonin-speeds. It was both scary for his teammates and highly fascinating to Sakumo.

Looking at the boy he smiled a bit when he saw the small glow of wonder in the boy's eyes as he looked upon the tall walls that kept Konoha inside and away from the outside elements. It was a remarkable sight for those that first saw the giant walls that stood between Konoha and the elements outside. So the boys fascination was understandable. Although, he did take a second look and he was glad to have given the boy a small dip before they got to Konoha. It wasn't a bath by any means, but the boy needed to be washed and cleaned before coming to Konoha. It wouldn't look good if they arrived with a boy that look and was stinking of death, and of dried blood.

So, Sakumo had taken it upon himself to wash the boy...by throwing him into a lake.

What? His dad did the same thing to him and that was to teach him how to swim.

Although that did earn him a painful punch to the nose, it was a relatively fast one to by the annoyed kid, but _kami he had a mean right hook! _Yet it had done the trick as some of the blood had come off. The rest he had to scrub off, he wasn't clean by any means because he still stunk of blood, but he at least didn't look like it. Because of that quick scrub Sakumo saw the boy had a surprisingly healthy tan complexion and his hair was very long reaching to his back, having never been cut for kami knows how long. His hair was surprisingly a natural shade of crimson even after he washed out the blood. Their was also the six scar's that marred his cheeks which Sakumo theorized seemed to had have happened earlier in his life.

Because they sure as hell weren't birthmarks, they were far too deep to be.

He also had to replace his clothes with something because what he had was literally falling apart, so they stopped by a merchant town and got him some simple clothes. A black short-sleeved shirt with the Hi no Kuni insignia on the back with a pair of dark blue shorts and plain blue sandals. The sandals had been hard for the boy to get used too since, in his own words, was more used to being bare foot.

Overall, Sakumo would say he looked relatively normal...besides the stench of blood coming off him that is.

''Ahh, it's so good to be back home!'' Suryu said while Issei agreed with a nod. ''Yeah, I can't wait to kick back and take a breather.'' he said

Sakumo on the other hand just chuckled, but he had to agree. Even if this mission was easy, the amount of missions they had to take a day was quite a few if not multiple due to the warring times they were in. It's just the way it was, so having a small breather was rare and should be taken for granted every chance you got.

Soon they came closer to the gates just before they were confronted by the gate guards, ''Halt! I figure why you and your team would be coming back Sakumo-san, but that kid isn't supposed to be with you.'' the shinobi said with suspicion clear in his eyes and a steel edge in his voice.

''Their was a minor disturbance during the mission and we found him near our mission's designation location. After consideration, I brought him along and see if Hokage-sama will allow the boy sanctuary in Konoha's wall. And before you ask...'' he said when he saw them about to question him, he silenced them with a hand and continued. ''I made sure for any and all deceits or hidden agenda's, and the boy is clean. He just wants a place to call home, and Konoha's laws on War orphans still stands, and you two don't want to refuse a kid from having a home, _do you?_'' he said narrowing his eyes dangerously causing the two to freeze from the cold edge in his eyes before they slumped in defeat.

''We got it, go on through. Hokage-sama will want to see you as soon as possible.'' they said and Sakumo nodded at that before he, his team and the ever quiet Naruto walked on through.

''Alright, well I think I'm gonna head back home and see how the clan's doing. Maybe see how Mikoto is doing with her training while I was away.'' Suryu said while Issei groaned as he crossed his arms. ''Lucky you, I gotta go do check up with Danzo-jii-san, he's gonna grill me for something I'm for sure.'' he said scratching his head.

''Haha, well go on ahead, but don't tell Danzo of what happened out there Issei, okay?'' his teammate already understood the importance of what happened out there it was a very sensitive subject and would only be spoken of with their Hokage. Giving a mock salute he vanished, then Sakumo turned to Suryu. ''You too, okay?'' he said and Suryu nodded as well.

''You got it.'' and taking one last look at Naruto, the Uchiha vanished in a swirl of leaves.

Giving out a sigh, Sakumo turned his head to look at Naruto and what he saw brought a smile to his face, the boy was just gazing all over Konoha. Deciding to give the boy a better view he acted. Putting his hand on the boys shoulder, they too vanished in a swirl of leaf's.

Only to reappear atop a water tank, than Sakumo stretched out his hand revealing all of Konoha to Naruto's eyes. ''Well Naruto, welcome to Konohagakure no Sato, your new home!''

Naruto still dazed by the technique looked around him and was taken in by the sight of the giant village around him. His eyes soaked in all of the village that was going to be his new home and his gaze went to even the Hokage Mountain before it went to the village as a whole. Than a small smile began to stretch on his face, it was the smallest one, but Sakumo saw it.

''….Home...'' he said as if it were a foreign thing to him before he said it louder and a tad bolder.

''_Home...this is...my Home._''

* * *

**Done, I made this longer than what I usually do, so is this good or bad? It's just a prologue to get the story rolling. Criticism and opinions on it will be very much appreciated.**

**Now I'm very tired so goodnight!**


	2. New Life Begins and First Friend

**I feel this needs to be said, guys my grammar is sub-par to a lot of other authors out there. I never really was good at grammar in school infact it was my worst subject so I never did catch on. That said, I am willing to take any criticisms about it and correct however much I can. That's just a warning from me, my grammar is not perfect, not even average.**

**Also about Naruto's skill set, I am developing him in my way that will separate him from the overused bloodline Naruto stories. Like those Sharingan/Byakugan/Rinnegan stories I've seen enough those to last 10 lifetimes. I am developing Naruto's abilities as I go and it may not always stay strictly in the Naruto verse I may take a few crossover elements as well, but very little.**

**As for the pairing that's still cloudy, but it will be staying pure Naruto x Kushina, if there are additions they will appear later down the line.**

**Now I put a lot of effort into this so all criticism is very much appreciated.**

**With that said, let's get on with it!**

* * *

"_Such an intriguing child, yes I feel you will be something quite special and unique. Something that this world desperately needs now more than ever. I sense no hatred in you, no ill will, just the innate ability to survive through all odds. Yes, it is that instinct that will define you as a man that is not chained down by this world's curse. You have my eternal blessing and my support even beyond death, little Maelstrom" **~Uzumaki Mito**_

**Naruto: Rise of Kazama Naruto**

Chapter 1: New Life Begins and First Friend

Hatake Sakumo had to briefly wonder, if the current situation was good or bad. It truly depended on a matter of perspective, but as he saw it play out all he could see was a really _really_ good thing. He watched, before him a scene unfold into a display that both troubled him yet sent shivers of excitement down his spine. What he saw exactly was his newest protege, Kazama Naruto a boy of only 5 year's of age surrounded by a bunch of newly fresh academy graduates that were three times his age. There were a total of 10 altogether, and it was a mix of clan and civilian children. Yet they were still trained to be a shinobi, the children from the clans younger still.

And they were angry, _very angry, _that much was evident as he and Konoha's current Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen watched from the rooftops. Their anger however was unjustified, they had been the ones who started this conflict and he'd make sure that would be noted after this situation was dealt with. His dark eyes went to Naruto who stood resolutely, literally back to back with another of Konoha's newest additions. It was a young girl that was around Naruto's age, she had noteworthy long red hair that seemed a tad lighter compared to Naruto's, a round shaped face that made her resemble a tomato and wide violet eyes.

He knew who the young girl was, he'd heard rumors and Hiruzen had cleared it up recently, that this young girl was the one the Uzumaki Clan sent to be the next Jinchūriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko which was presently still held in its first container, the honorable Uzumaki Mito the wife and widow of the Shodai Hokage, Senju Hashirama. Information on the girl was scarce, but from what Hiruzen had told him she was in line of the Uzumaki Clan Head himself and that her name was Uzumaki Kushina.

Yet that little bit of information was rectified after what he had seen below him, he and Hiruzen had watched the scene from start to finish and he'd come to learn the redheaded Uzumaki was a hothead, brash, quick to anger, a tad obnoxious and had all the righteous female fury that all Kunoichi seemed to inherit in spades, on a level of even Uzumaki Mito. It honestly made him smile a bit at seeing the next generation having such a promising young Kunoichi-to-be.

But that smile grew as he looked at the scene, seeing that young boy he found in the field of death and blood, the one who had killed fully experienced shinobi of Jonin and Chunin rank just too survive. He had no friends, no parents, raising and self-teaching himself since he was 3, in the woods alone. That had made the boy very unsociable, recluse he was sure yet; he was glad. Glad to see that the boy knew what was right and wrong as he had stepped in at the moment with the young Uzumaki girl was being bullied by these little graduates.

And now he was about to see Naruto and Kushina fight it out against these graduates and he had to admit he was interested to see how it would progress. He'd told Naruto no killing in the village, but he was interested to see how the kid did in a fight with only his self-training. And how he would do while fighting alongside someone for a change.

Now you may be wondering, how did this all happen? Well, it all began when Sakumo first took Naruto to see the Hokage and see about getting him registered in as a official Konoha citizen and by extension to be inducted into the Shinobi Academy.

And THAT had been a... interesting conversation to say the least...

**Flashback-1 Hour ago**

''Now Naruto, before I can officially get you into Konoha we need to go see it's leader, the Hokage. I need to introduce you to him, alright?'' Sakumo made it very clear in his voice that meeting the Hokage was very important and he needed to be on his best behavior, but he figured he would have no trouble from the ever silent young boy. The lad was still taken in by he sights of Konoha, reeling in all of its majesty and splendor which the locals seemed to take for granted.

Although it wasn't much of a surprise, this kid had never seen a village as huge as Konoha. Hell when he thought about it, the kid probably never even seen a small settlement either. Having only been stuck in the woods or in the fires of War. It was a somber thought, but it was a cold truth that he needed to accept. That this 5 year old had probably bore witness to the dark truths of this world, that the world he was born into was fraught with peril at every turn. There was no telling how much that damaged the kid mentally and how much his psyche was left scarred by the traumatizing events that led up to how he was now.

Sakumo couldn't even imagine...

He just hoped this would give Naruto a new chance, a fresh start, make friends and live a better life...

Although it would come at a price, one of which made him frown in guilt as he knew bringing this child would doom him to serve Konoha with or without his acceptance.

It's just how war was, the village needed every available shinobi it could muster to defend Konoha and children were no exception. If a child showed the least bit of talent in the Shinobi arts than they were drafted into the Academy with no permission to the parents beforehand. It was a law, set by the Nidaime Hokage, and to break a law set by the Nidaime Hokage was basically treason. It was harsh and it sickened Sakumo, but it was how he was drafted to becoming a shinobi, but still it was vile and inhumane.

He turned and saw that Naruto had heard him and accepted what he said with a wordless nod which caused him to sigh. The boy had remained entirely silent since the trip back to Konoha, and he wasn't entirely sure it was because of his nature or he just nervous of being in a environment that wasn't a barren battlefield.

_'Hell maybe both...'_

As they neared the location of the Hokage Tower and by extension the Shinobi Academy which was connected with the tower. Sakumo saw the looks he was receiving from the villagers and even his fellow shinobi. He could hear them muttering behind his back yet he ignored them easily, he knew the reason as to why they were reacting this way. It wasn't everyday you saw Hatake Sakumo escorting a 5 year old redheaded and blue eyed boy through the village. It just wasn't of the norm, but he was worried more for how Naruto was reacting. Yet his worries were for naught as he looked toward the boy and only saw him seemingly oblivious of the stares he was getting or maybe he was just ignoring them all entirely he wasn't sure.

Soon enough the duo reached their location and upon entering they were greeted by the front desk attendant. A nice enough woman with brown hair and black eyes, a retired chunin who chose to be the Hokage's secretary for all visitors and meetings. Upon seeing them she gave Naruto a brief glance before she looked towards Sakumo with a small smile.

''Ah, Hatake-san are you here to see Hokage-sama?'' she asked and Sakumo merely nodded while placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder who paid close attention to the conversation.

''Yes, I'm here to debrief the Hokage for my mission and a little something else, if you get my meaning.'' he said to which the woman glanced once more at Naruto before nodding in acceptance. Once more she smiled at the man before pointing up the stairs.

''Well you're in luck Hokage-sama just got done with his last meeting for the day so he's open for debriefings, go on ahead.'' she said, letting them through so with that Sakumo led on with Naruto following in stride. They were walking up a curved flight of stairs that led up to the second floor and along the way Naruto was eying the paintings of various arts and of even famous people that seemed to originate from Konoha.

But than he suddenly stopped, his awareness kicked in as he felt someone staring at him and he turned his head to look as he followed Sakumo along. And it was than he found who was staring at him, it was a girl around his age that was being led down the stairs by another Konoha shinobi. She had fair skin was dressed in a simple sleeveless yellow kimono-style blouse which was closed by a green obi that held over a short-sleeved mesh shirt. The rest she had dark blue shorts and brown shinobi sandals. And yet his eyes were struck upon her long fiery red hair that whipped back and forth and she walked and it made his eyes spark to life, curiosity bubbled up from within him as he looked upon her long mane of hair with fascination.

His eyes than caught her and for the briefest moment time seemed to stop. He looked at the girl with no expression on his face, but simple curiosity and fascination in his eyes. His azure orbs taking in the sight of round violet ones which seemed to widen when she was found out by him that she was caught staring. Quickly the young girl turned away with a small hmph with a colorful flush on her cheeks, but he still watched her go before turning away with a small shrug.

_'Huh...'_

Soon enough his mind pushed the image of the girl down as he and Sakumo reached a pair of double oak doors which Sakumo gave a knock on.

''Come in!'' Naruto heard a man's voice sound from the other side and Sakumo went ahead and opened the door with Naruto following behind him.

What the young boy saw was a rather decently sized office, fit for a leader of a village of this magnitude, he wasn't one though to pay much detail to those as he paid more acute attention on the man that sat infront of him and Sakumo at a desk. And he supposed this man was that very same leader, or was it Hokage? He wasn't sure. But he figured that because Sakumo kneeled down and his head low in respect for the man infront of them.

''Hokage-sama, I've returned too debrief you of my team's latest mission.'' he said and the man seemed to perk up and he spun around his chair to look and it was than Naruto got a good look at Konoha's current Hokage.

It was a middle-aged man with a tanned complexion, he had dark borwn hair that spiked up along with a goatee. He had one line running vertically down from the outer corners of his eyes. There were creases in his facial expression showing that time was taking its toll on the man yet there was something Naruto saw in the man's eyes when they glanced toward him that made him stand straighter. It was a foreign feeling to the young boy, but he had experienced something very similar in his young life when near the battlefields. It was oppressive, threatening to make him fall to his knee's, but he stood against it with little to no effort as he relaxed becoming used to the aura this man was giving off.

And that seemed to strangely please and surprise the man who perked an eyebrow before he smiled. Than he stood up revealing his full attire which was the official uniform of the Hokage position which was just a set of white and red robes along with a triangular hat that was entirely red besides the frontal corner which was white with a red kanji for something that Naruto couldn't describe.

''Ah very good, and I suppose this child is supposed to be apart of whatever happened on your mission, yes?'' he questioned his subordinate, who had missed the little bout between his leader and the redheaded boy. Sakumo nodded causing the man to nod as he eyed Naruto once more with a keen eye before nodding his head.

''Very well, stand Sakumo.'' and the man did so, but before he could speak he raised his hand. ''But first, as you know, these matters can only be spoke of in private. Therefore...'' he continued before he pinned his glaze on Naruto and a warm smile stretched across his face.

''Lad, would you mind sitting outside for a second while Sakumo and I talk?'' he asked the boy to which Naruto looked towards Sakumo who merely gave him the go ahead with a nod. So, the boy turned around and walked out and as soon as he walked out with the door closing behind him the warm expression on Hiruzen's face turned deceptively cold whilst his eyes flashed with a steel edge which pinned on Sakumo with such intensity any lesser of a man would have buckled and fallen to their knees.

''Now than, I do believe you have a very good explanation as to why you have brought a child back with you from a mission that no child should be near. And maybe you can answer to me as to why that boy stunk of blood and death, _Sakumo?_'' his voice was as sharp as the edge of a kunai and it could have frozen the hearts of many great man and women. Yet Sakumo only let down a bead of sweat fall before he began to explain as to what happened and how he stumbled upon the boy.

''Well you'll find this hard to believe Hokage-sama, but it all started when...''

**With Naruto**

As the two began their conversation Naruto did as he was told when he walked out the door he walked towards the wall on the opposite side and just sat down. Wordlessly he just stared up at the ceiling with a empty stare as his mind began to reel in all that had happened to him. Not a few days ago he had been living alone in the woods, fighting to survive from those people that trampled and destroyed his home in the woods. And now he was brought to a village of shinobi, of the very same people that destroyed his home and made his life hell for as long as he could remember. He didn't know how to feel about that, he felt confused, lost about what he should do now that he was here.

''Konoha...'' he muttered the name of this village, he was still mesmerized by the sight of the village. It _was_ beautiful, there was no mistaking that even if the staring and whispers did put him on edge it didn't change his opinion that the village was like a civilized form of his former home in the woods only on a much grander scale.

Yet as he thought about the splendor of that Konoha seemed to give off his thoughts began to wander off to that girl he passed on the way. It was strange to the young boy, but as he thought about her, he felt a bubbling sensation of curiosity along with a fine line of fascination. He didn't know why he felt that way he just did.

_'Maybe she is...nearby, perhaps I could learn her name?'_ with that thought in mind the boy stood up, and completely forgetting his meeting with the Hokage and Sakumo he traveled back down the steps, hopefully retracing his steps he could find her in the village. Without a word he walked down the stairs and passed the secretary with only a nod before walking out the door leaving a blinking secretary and two supposedly oblivious shinobi behind him.

As soon as Naruto was out on the streets of Konoha he quickly found out how crowded it was getting and the amount of people was starting to put him on edge. As the only vast amount of people he was used to see was when they were trying to kill, maim or injure one another in a fierce clash of blood and steel. But as he began walking down the street he stumbled into someone who was tall enough to make Naruto fall on his ass.

Scratching his head, the boy blinked before he heard the one he ran into speak, ''Oh you should becareful where you are walking, young one. You may very well run over some other unlucky elder.'' it was a elderly woman's voice and he looked up into the smiling face of very old woman whose smile seemed to quickly ease his out of control mental state. Her smile was warm, inviting and with another emotion he couldn't identify. He looked at her closer and saw that the woman's eyes were closed completely and yet she was still able to see him. She had very long maroon hair while on the top of her head she had two buns arranged with hair clips in them with three clips in the front. She was wearing a lose fitting white kimono with a dark obi holding it together while in her hand she pushed herself up with a wooden cane of sorts.

Feeling disappointed in himself the boy quickly stood up and hesitantly bowed his head in apology, ''I-I'm sorry for running into you.'' he was quiet, but his apology was heard as the woman's smile grew the slightest bit.

''Oh that's fine, now go on I'm sure you have something very important to do, yes?'' and it was than Naruto seemed to realize what he was originally trying to do beforehand.

''Ah, you're right I gotta go thanks for reminding me...um...'' he stopped and the woman merely waved her withered hand.

''Just call me Mito young one, now run along.'' she said mentioning her name to the boy who took it in stride before he ran off. Leaving the old lady behind him, and said woman turned around and started her original trek which was currently the Hokage's office, it was time for her annual teasing of that brat, Saru-chan.

''Hm, that child is...intriguing...and his eyes...he has some very strong eyes for a child.'' she commented lightly as he trudged on.

Soon, Naruto found himself running, dashing through the streets at Konoha, running faster and faster until he was becoming a blur to everyone. He was running as fast as he could, pushing all his training he'd done to the max as he searched for that redheaded girl. He was so focused on his goal that he never saw the two shadows following close behind him, but stayed far enough back to just watch him go. He ran, jumping over stalls and sliding under fruit carts, jumping through open windows and even using his momentum to run up walls. He was black and red speeding blur that only those of Jonin and higher could follow with ease anything lower would have had a very hard time tracking him let alone seeing him.

Suddenly, a flash of that same fiery shade of red caught his sight from the corner of his eye and cut the corner and followed where he saw it. And in second's he stopped in time to find himself in the middle of the back alleyways near the Shinobi Academy. Than his ear's perked at the sound of people laughing and he followed the sound until he found himself in abandoned square. It was than he saw a couple of boys and girls older than himself were insulting and picking on...

_'That girl from before...'_ he realized who it was, the same girl with that fiery red hair who was currently gripping her fists and her head was lowered so as to not show what they said affected her. And upon seeing her distress and seeing the others insulting her and picking on her seemed to pull at something in him.

Something that was strong enough to make the normally expressionless boy rip out a snarl, his monotone azure blue eyes narrowed dangerously into frigid icy orbs that could freeze hell a hundred times over. He didn't know what possessed him, but the very moment he saw one of them begin to pick up a rock he just _moved, _not even realizing in his mad dash he had cracked the ground and caused the surrounding buildings to tremble…..

''Haha, would you look at this brat? Who has that kind of hair? It's so bright it makes you look like a tomato! Especially with that round face of yours!'' spoke one boy who had the Uchiha trademark raven hair and coal black eyes. His expression was twisted in a ugly sneer as he insulted the younger girl while his fellow graduates cheered him on.

''I know right?! She must be a foreigner, so why'd you come to Konoha, tomato-gaki? Huh? Answer me!'' another boy shouted who had wild brown hair and brown eyes with the trademark Inuzuka Clan marks on his face. He seemed to smirk, taking a enjoyment in picking on a girl much younger and smaller than himself.

''She's being silent, perhaps this will make her talk...maybe even cry too, let's see.'' another spoke, it was a girl this time with long light blond hair and emerald green eyes. She looked to be 13 and currently she was tossing a small rock up and down. Suddenly, she cocked her arm back and with a small shout she threw it to the prone girl who had yet to strike back at them or even say a word.

''Take this! Maybe this will make you talk tomato-gaki!'' she shouted

The rock hurled toward the girl with enough velocity to seriously injure her, but before it could even come within feet of her. A black and red shadow appeared infront of her, in the trajectory of the rocks path.

Unknown to all this, Uzumaki Kushina, age 5 was biting her lower lip as she held herself back from reacting with all the anger she had which was quickly reaching it's limit. She always had a short fuse, something inherited from her father and mother equally, and she always got angry when she was directly insulted or scorned. However the Konoha shinobi that brought her here told her to not cause a ruckus otherwise she'd get in trouble. And she didn't wanna do that, even if that meant she had to endure this taunting and jeering from kids older than her. She had sworn not to do anything unless the situation called for it.

She was only 5 year's old so she wasn't sure if this situation called for it and besides she wasn't entirely sure she could fight this many people on her own. They were older than her and looked like they just graduated the Shinobi Academy if the Konoha Headbands tied around their foreheads were any indication. So, Kushina endured the jeering and taunting, biting on her lower lip enough to draw blood and even clench her fists enough for her knuckles to shake and pop.

She didn't really expect anyone to find her and help her and she fully expected to be hit with whatever that girl threw at her, but she was incredibly surprised when she heard a loud...

_Smack!_

The sound of rock hitting flesh resonated in the area as the rock stopped it's course as it was grabbed in a steel-like grip. Kushina fully expected to be hit so when she didn't feel anything she slowly raised her head and opened her eyes slightly to see what had happened. So imagine her surprise when she was staring at the back of a boy her age with a long mane of spiky blood red hair. So surprised she didn't even see the object that was thrown at her was in the boy's hand until she actually saw him lower his hand that held the rock.

''Hey! Who the hell are you?!'' this time it was a boy that looked to be from the Akimichi Clan from his 'big boned' physique.

''Hey wait a second, this brat has red hair too, what the hell is with you foreigner's these days!'' the Inuzuka boy shouted in annoyance yet Naruto hadn't said a word. He was just standing there gripping onto the rock that was meant to hit Kushina, his fingers clenched onto the rock so tight cracks had began to form. His head was low, but beneath the fringes of his red hair his blue eyes were abnormally piercing and so cold the moment the older kids saw it they fell the hairs on the back of their neck stand up.

''W-what the hell...'' another girl spoke as she instinctively took a step back, suddenly she didn't feel so well. It was true as her fair complexion suddenly dropped ghost white as Naruto's icy orbs stared them all down without a single hint of fear.

''You think this is...funny?'' finally he spoke, yet his words made them flinch from the sheer coldness in his tone. There was no emotion, just raw unforgiving coldness that froze them on the spot. He raised his hand that held the rock and he turned his gaze from them, to the rock and back to them. ''Do you feel better when you pick on those smaller than you? Does it make you feel big? Strong? Because all I see is a bunch of snot-nosed brats that are about to learn a very...very _painful lesson!''_

_Crack!_

To cement his words the rock in his hand gave way under the immense pressure of his strength and exploded into dust, no chunks, no pebbles, only dust was left. And Naruto merely turned his gaze to look over his shoulder to look at Kushina whose violet eyes were staring at his back in shokc just before they widened in realization when she recognized his face.

''Y-you...'' she muttered, she remembered him! It was that kid from before when she left the old man's office.

''I think you wanna give them as much pain as possible for doing that to you, so why don't you stand up and fight? Fight with me and let's give these assholes the beating of their life's.'' he said and it was at that moment Kushina felt something click in her when she heard his words.

He was right...

Why was she cowering? She was _Uzumaki-fucking-Kushina_ dattebane! Uzumaki's don't ever run away from a fight they stood tall and fought till they couldn't fight no more or until their bodies gave out.

_'So what if I get in trouble, these teme's started it, so it's only fitting they got what they rightfully deserve!' _and it was with that thought Kushina let out a dark grin that suddenly made the boys and girls nearly mess themselves. She began popping her knuckles as she walked up to Naruto's side before she gave him a glance.

''Thanks, I needed that.'' she thanked him and the boy merely gave her a curious glance before he showed the smallest smiles. ''No, problem...now then...'' he slowly turned his gaze back on the newly graduates and this time they DID soil themselves as azure eyes filled with such coldness it would have frozen the Shinigami itself in its tracks.

''Let's kick their asses...'' and the moment he said that he and Kushina shot toward the group with rage in their eyes. Although they were outnumbered 2 to 10 the display Naruto had just showed in addition to his and Kushina's anger threw them off guard and even fearful of the two 5 year's that came at them.

And the first punch was landed as both Naruto and Kushina's fist impacted with the Inuzuka's face which sent him barreling back before his slammed into the building with enough force it cracked. The boy's face was bloody and deformed with a broken and dislocated nose, a few missing teeth and both eyes shut as the boy fell down onto the unforgiving ground unconscious.

His friends were about to shout in worry, but the two redheads moved far too fast for them to even utter a word. Kushina was like a whirlpool of destruction, every punch she landed broke bones, every hit was fueled by her anger at these bastards which caused even more pain for them. She didn't fight clean either, she pulled their hair, yanking them to the ground and began pummeling their faces in until they resembled bloody lumps of flesh and broken bone. Her long hair whipped around as she moved around with speed that was deceptive for her age and the way her eyes glared at them all made them see Kushina as something even more. The way her hair floated and as she stood around the unconscious bodies of their friends while one was still clutched in her hand bleeding and unconscious. What they saw was the true representation of a female's fury unleashed.

Yet when they turned they saw something that was equally terrifying if not more so.

Naruto had been hard at work on them taking on the other 5 himself and if Kushina was a whirlpool of destruction than Naruto was literally like his namesake suggested. He was a maelstrom of fluidity, flexibility, precise strikes and crushing blows. He attacked with all the training drilled into him by his caretaker until he was three, and his self-taunt combat training in the woods. It was his own adaptive combat preference that had no style. It only relied on his own natural bodies reflexes, senses, speed and strength. He attacked with speed, kicking them out from under their feet before kicking them in the back sending them back into the cold hard ground while catching one boys attempt to punch him before bring his elbow down his arm causing it to bend the wrong way, effectively breaking his arm. Yet before he could even scream Naruto slammed his head into the ground knocking him unconscious. He than caught someone trying to kick him and grabbed the leg before he broke it at a awkward angle and twisted it before he jumped and stomped on his head.

The way his spiky blood red hair flowed with each strike while his piercing sharp blue eyes froze them on the spot made it seem like as if he was standing upon a pile of corpses with a cold smirk that spoke of nothing, but untold amounts of pain and eternal suffering at his hands. And the way his eyes seemed to glow a dark azure made it all the more terrifying. It was like they were looking at a drawing of hell and Satan himself was staring at them.

Soon enough the newly graduated kids were all laying strewn on the floor beaten by two 5 year's old with remarkable physical power and skill.

Panting Kushina wiped the sweat off her forehead before a megawatt grin spread across her face. ''And that's how you deal with bastards the Uzumaki way, dattebane!'' she said placing her hands on her hips in a rather silly victory pose with her left foot on the dead of the blonde girl who threw the rock at her. At that moment Kushina was pumped and hyped that she forgot that she had someone with her.

_''….Dattebane?''_

And suddenly her grin shattered like fragile glass as her eyes grew as wide as saucers, slowly she turned to see Naruto looking at her with a tilt of his head and his brow raised in confusion at her accursed verbal tic. His blue eyes looked at her with curiosity even as he sat indian style atop a pile of his share of the bastards. And at that moment Kushina's face literally did look like a tomato as she realized she'd just said that infront of her possibly first friend in Konoha!

''J-just forget I said, please?'' she asked him yet Naruto didn't see a reason why he should. There wasn't anything wrong with it and infact in his opinion it fit her...dare he say it he kinda liked it. And he openly expressed this with his blunt mannerisms, no doubt his caretaker never did teach him what the word subtlety meant.

''Why? I found it cute, it really does suit you.''

At that moment Kushina's eyes could have rolled out with how wide they were and literally she was breaking records in how red she was. _No one_, had ever complimented her verbal tick saying it was annoying which is why she cursed it. Yet hearing this guy say it with such honesty made her actual rethink her opinion on that.

She watched him look up at the sky before he stood up, ignoring the groans of those below him he walked off them and came toward her. Soon enough he was mere inches from her personal space and though her monumental blush had died down her cheeks were flushed with the close proximity he had with this boy.

Then suddenly he reached out with his hand and spoke, ''Well my names Naruto, Kazama Naruto. What's yours?''

It took her a moment to realize he was introducing himself and in turn wished to know her name, feeling a bit silly she actually smiled and grasped his hand with her own. Their equally worn bloody hands from sharing their first moment beating up a bunch of bullies. It was endearing in a way, twisted and a bit demented, but endearing nonetheless.

''Nice to meet you Naruto-kun! My name is Kushina, Uzumaki Kushina!'' she announced, full of energy and life which rekindled Naruto's bleak life with a new flame, and that flame was his fellow redhead beside him.

_'Maybe living here won't be so bad afterall...'_ he thought in silence as he and Kushina walked away from the scene intending to find the Hokage.

Not knowing they had been watched by said Hokage the whole time. Along with Sakumo and the elderly woman Naruto had ran into not long ago.

''Well now, this is a surprise who would have thought little Kushina would find her first friend in the most unexpected of ways. And that boy is just as you described him to be Sakumo, he's a...odd one.'' Hiruzen admitted whilst Sakumo gave a chuckle.

''Yeah, so what do you say? Will you let him join Konoha, Hokage-sama?'' he asked, but he was answered by Mito who was staring at Naruto and Kushia's retreating backs with a forlorn expression.

''Of course he will otherwise I will remind him as to why he was so scared of me when he was a child.'' she replied curt and blunt making Hiruzen sweat when he remembered the fear he had as a child when it came to Mito. She scared the unholy shit out of him, and still did to this day. He had no doubt even in her old age she could lay into him a ass whooping of the century.

''But of course haha! I'l let him stay with you for the time being Sakumo and I'll induct him into the Shinobi Academy as well. He will join with the newest generation so he'll at least be around people his age. Now go on home and rest, we'll discuss this matter in further detail tomorrow morning.'' he said and Sakumo nodded.

''Hai Hokage-sama and goodnight to you as well Mito-sama.'' he said with much respect before he vanished. When he left though, Hiruzen's eyes cut across to the wife of his late sensei and asked her without beating around the bush. ''So, what do you think of him? Of that child? There is no clan connected to the Kazama as far as I know so what do you think of him, Mito-sama?'' he asked because to be honest there was only one person this whole world that could read someone better than himself and that was Mito. She's had more than a century to learn and master this skill and no one could rival her in that department.

But he was shocked when she actually opened her eyes to reveal her pupil-less gray orbs which seemed to glow with an otherworldly light. ''The better question to ask, Saru-chan is. _What do I see in him_. And what I see in that boy is something that goes beyond even my foresight. He has already seen the horrors of the Shinobi world at the very moment he was born, lost his parents to war and has seen the true terror that war can afflict upon this world. That boy has seen the true curse that hovers over this world like a plague. And while I can no longer see past him I can feel he will be at the center of great change in this world. Change that this world desperately needs now more than ever.'' she said before looking directly at him.

''That boy... is special Hiruzen. I sense no hatred in him, no ill will, just the instinct to survive in this harsh reality we live in. And it is that instinct that will define him as a man who will not be chained down by this worlds curse. That is why I give him my eternal blessing and my support even unto my death and beyond. I will have that boy's back even in death, for I feel he will do what needs to be done to uplift the curse on this world.'' she said with a mysterious smile before she turned away.

''Watch over him Hiruzen, let him grow, let him rise as destiny intended.'' finished she spoke again to the silent Hokage. ''Goodnight Saru-chan, sleep on my words.'' with that said she vanished in a swirl of leaf's. Leaving Hiruzen to contemplate her words for the entire night henceforth.

Indeed, it seemed the life for Kazama Naruto was about to get really interesting.

* * *

**Done! Longest chapter I've made! So did you like it or hate it? Leave me review and tell me that had a lot of effort put into it so I need earnest opinions on the work I did.**

**Now I need sleep got work tonight so bye!**


	3. The Darkest Depths

**First off, thank you all for the support I truly do appreciate it.**

**Now with that said I am thinking of making a Naruto x Highschool DxD story that's been on my mind for awhile, but it's been on the burner. However, that's not all I wanted to talk about cause you see with Naruto's character I have much planned about him and his past and this goes to your question **_Kinunatzs. _**Naruto isn't an OC with just the name Naruto, but I cannot describe who he is right now since that would be majorly spoiling a lot. Just know I have plans for him and that he is STILL Naruto and leave it at that.**

**This also goes out to **_CynicalJinx_** and **_OreganDucks,_** okay yeah I'll admit that Zaraki Kenpachi is one of my favorite if not my favorite bleach character and he may have influenced me a bit.**

**Now this chapter will seem a bit strange, but just stick with it since there is a method to my madness.**

**Now I've said my peace, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

"_Although it is the duty of my clan to walk the minds of foreigners that could potentially pose a threat to Konoha. When it comes to a child, a War Orphan at that, it becomes a very sensitive subject. I should have remembered that when I delved into that boys mind because now...I feel like I've woken up something I shouldn't have.'' __**~Yamanaka Inzochi**_

**Naruto: Rise of Kazama Naruto**

Chapter 2: The Darkest Depths

''So, how do you feel about Konoha so far, Naruto?'' Sakumo spoke as he walked alongside the boy as he neared his home. It was in the afternoon and he had taken Naruto after that incident awhile back with him so he could get the boy to understand what would be happening from now on. He'd let the boy know the Hokage approved him to be a legal Konoha citizen, but at the price of initiating him into the Shinobi Academy due to their laws on War Orphans that were certified.

Sakumo had expected Naruto be surprised or a bit mad about that, but the boy didn't seem to make a notion that he was surprised or mad about it. He only seemed to take it in stride with a simple nod. Nonetheless, he'd told the boy though that he would be going with him tomorrow to see the Hokage before he went to the Academy since it didn't open its doors to new students until the day after tomorrow. Again the boy accepted it without so much as an expression, but after that he led Naruto around Konoha taking it upon himself to buy the boy his much needed necessities.

Clothes, toothbrush, all he would need when entering the Shinobi academy so the standard pack of Shuriken and Kunai and a pouch to carry his them. Along with that he bought him a bag to carry his supplies and all the needed paper and pencils he would need. There was also the _food _he had to buy to fill in the cabinets since he'd have another mouth to feed since the Hokage had made him personally responsible for the boy. Not that he minded since this didn't even scratch the surface of how much money he'd saved up from his missions which mostly consisted of A to S-Rank missions.

Plus he lived in his own house since the Second World War broke out and the amount of missions he'd carried out he earned enough money to pay for his house. It wasn't anything high up there it was a standard two story home with 3 bathrooms, 3 bedrooms, a kitchen, living room, a study and a extra room for storage. It was in the residential district of Konoha and the closest to the trade district and the Shinobi Academy so that proved to be very useful to him and his new roommate.

''The village is...beautiful, it feels like my...old home. But as for the villagers...I cannot say.'' he admitted and Sakumo frowned however he understood the boys hesitation about the villagers. The majority were friendly to newcomers so long as they followed the laws within Konoha, but there was a few that were rather... prejudiced to newcomers that weren't native to Hi no Kuni. They were few, but fine examples of them were those kids from before that attacked Kushina not awhile ago. They were likely kids that were raised by adults that had that outlook on newcomers that came to Konoha.

But as he looked at the boy he had a feeling Naruto wouldn't sit idly by and let people walk all over him, especially if they were in the wrong. The incident with Kushina and prior to that when he first met him were prime examples of that.

''Understandable, but don't let it trouble you. Just follow the laws of Konoha within your ability and you'll be just fine and don't worry I'll go over them with you so you'll know.'' he quickly added when he noticed the boys confused look. Yet even then, Sakumo worried for the boy since he never lived in such a densely populated village like Konoha and not knowing how mentally scarred the boy was from his prior life. He didn't know he would react, it's one of the reasons why the Hokage wished to see him.

Tests needed to be done, all War Orphans had to go through a psychiatric test, just to see if they were damaged or how damaged they were by the flames of war. It was never set in stone how they went, some were either so scarred they would become a liability on the battlefield who may just snap and kill everyone or him/herself in the process. And others were perfectly fine with some minor mental scarring.

Yet he had a uneasy feeling Naruto's test was gonna be a bit different...

_'A 5 year old kid who admits to killing a Kumo incursion of a over a hundred of their most elite shinobi is bound to hold some secrets. I just hope Hokage-sama doesn't dig too deep...you can only go so far into a child's mind before you break them.'_ he thought with a deep frown, he'd seen it happen before and he'd rather not see Naruto become like that. Being a shinobi was nasty business, there just was no sugar coating it, especially in times of War.

''Anyway, tonight I'll be going over a few things with you tonight. Then tomorrow we will be going to see the Hokage, alright?'' he said causing the boy to look at him before giving a small nod. There was some work that needed to be done with the boys speech, he needed to polish on his speech.

''Good, now let's go we're near my home. You'll be living with me for the time being.'' he said while Naruto just gave a nod of acceptance as he walked with Sakumo back to his place. Yet his mind was lingering on his recent fight with those kids from before and meeting with Kushina. He'd went along with Sakumo told him before coming to Konoha and held himself back from actively trying to kill those kids however it had proven to be hard. It was a reflex of his nature to always kill those that attack him, which was proven as at some points he unconsciously was about to crush their throats or break their necks or shatter their spines.

It was hard for him, but he managed, but there was also that strange feeling he got when he was fighting alongside Kushina. He'd never fought alongside anyone before, it was only himself. He only fought to protect himself from the harsh world he as born in, anyone else that attacked him was an enemy that needed to die. He never had to worry about anyone, but himself. However for that brief moment he fought with her it honestly felt..._refreshing._

_'I wonder if I'll see her again.'_ he thought about his fellow redhead which soon caused a smile to form upon his scarred cheeks.

**Next Day-Hokage's Office**

''So, would you mind explaining to me what exactly happened to you, Sakumo?'' Hiruzen asked in a incredulous voice, his eyes were a tad wide in astonishment and it was understandable as he sat inside his office. With him was a light blonde man with teal eyes who was a Yamanaka that the current clan head of the clan trusted to get this mental test under way. It was morning and just now Sakumo had come by with his new entourage that was Naruto, but he was surprised by what he saw when the two walked in.

You see, Sakumo was sporting a rather nasty bruised right eye and a busted lip, the injuries were minor yet this _was _Hatake Sakumo. A young yet powerful shinobi whose skill and power was beginning to rise above the ranks of even his own students. That said much about the man and his abilities as a shinobi, so to see him injured like that was surprising. If he had been in a spar he'd have understood, but it was too early for that right now.

At this Sakumo slowly glanced at Naruto before having the decency to look a tad sheepish, ''Haha I'll tell you later, Hokage-sama. How about we just get this underway, yeah?'' he chuckled while Hiruzen's eyebrow rose before deciding to just that since clearly he didn't to say anything while Naruto or the Yamanaka was in the room. Shrugging, he turned his gaze on Naruto and instantly he eyes turned stony if ever so slightly on the young boy.

''Very well, now before we begin I believe introductions are in order since we never got the chance to yesterday. Now child, my name is Sarutobi Hiruzen the Sandaime Hokage of Konoha, what is yours?'' of course he already knew the boys name, but never personally talked with the boy himself. And the way Sakumo spoke of him interested Hiruzen enough to speak with the boy personally and see just how unique he was to the average war orphan, Konoha usually got.

Naruto just looked straight into Hiruzen's eyes which impressed him since most orphans and even some seasoned shinobi wilted or began to sweat under his stony gaze. Yet not this child, he merely shrugged it off as if it were nothing, as if he'd seen worse, been through a lot worse to be afraid of someone's stare. That made the claims Sakumo made to him alone yesterday become a lot more interesting and not just tall tales than.

''….Kazama Naruto'' he said making Hiruzen nod with a satisfied expression. ''Good then Naruto, now the reason you're here is while you have been made a legal citizen of Konoha. I need to be sure of a few things. Now can you sit here while Inzochi here checks a few things with you?'' he asked pointing to the chair infront of his desk. Looking to the chair and than to the man presumably called Inzochi he eyed him for a moment before he looked to Sakumo. Anod from him was all he needed before he walked toward the chair and sat down while Inzochi came up to him.

''Now, Naruto I need you to close your eyes and relax, Inzochi will be checking you for any irregularities in your psyche. It will not take long so bear with it, alright?'' he asked as he stood from his desk and walked around to stand side by side with Sakumo. Naruto gave a nod and closed his eyes, not really understand much of what the guy said, but he'd do it if it meant a new home for himself.

He had nothing to hide...

All he knew was the world he was born in...

''Good, now than Inzochi you may begin.'' he said and Inzochi nodded before he placed his hand on the boys head which caused him tense up which Sakumo noticed and quickly spoke up.

''Naruto! It's okay just...calm down and relax.'' he said which the boy did. But Sakumo received a confused look from Hiruzen who had also noticed the boy tensing up, but the look Sakumo gave him was all he needed to know. A simple _'I'll explain later'_

When the boy eased Inzochi began the process as he closed his eyes and channeled chakra through his hand and slowly began to enter the boy's brain. He specialized in reading the minds of War Orphans, checking to see how damaged they were and give an accurate description of whether they were mentally sound or not. He'd seen the horrors of what many of these kids had to go through, so when he entered Naruto's mind he was expecting to see a lot of the same thing.

Unfortunately he would be proven severely wrong that aspect...

It was _much worse..._

_''AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!'' _The very moment he began to see the boy's memories he was assaulted with the most gut wrenching scream he had ever heard. He tried to mute it out, but the very shrill of it chill him to the bone. He saw the cause of it which was the very first thing in saw, it was a blood drenched battlefield that had hundreds upon thousands of corpses strewn apart everywhere. It was hard to distinguish who they were and where they belonged, but each one was killed in a variety of ways that just spoke of how brutal this battle was.

Men and women were torn to pieces, pelted with enough arrow to block out the sun, some were crushed by the earth, others drowned by water, sliced by the winds, electrocuted by lightning or turned to ash by fire. Others were just broken and disfigured in ways that made it clear they had been killed by proficient hand-to-hand combatants. The smell of blood was as putrid as the smell of death was in the air and the sound of crows cawwing as they pocked and nicked at the corpses.

Inzochi paled considerably, but was able to keep himself steady and he looked for the source of the scream and all he saw was of a figure crouched over the corpse of a dead woman. The cries of a n ewborn suddenly echoed from where the woman was yet his attention was stolen as the figure turned his head, Without warning Inzochi was assaulted with the face of something that _did not look human. _He couldn't figure out how to even describe the figure for he only had a humanoid shape, but was completely jet black from head to toe. It body seemed to be formed completely out of a mass of smoky darkness that threatened to snuff out all light in the world.

And whatever it was seemed to be..._staring straight at him!_

Than suddenly the memories rolled by making Inzochi see more of the boy's memories, much of which showed some of what the boy had gone through it was making him pale more and more until he nearly lost all feelings in his legs. Suddenly though, the memories went too something else. It was just plain darkness with only himself standing amidst the abyss, but he soon found out he couldn't move. He tired to speak, but he was horrified when excruciating pain erupted within his throat when he tried, but before do much else he felt something grab his shoulder and he turned to see what it was.

And Inzochi's eyes widened in unrestrained horror, unadulterated terror flooded every part of his body as a humanoid of pure black grabbed hold of his shoulder. It's hands slowly turned into claws pierced through flesh and bone, oh kami it HURT but he couldn't scream he couldn't even cry he could only let out a silent scream of mute pain as it's maw split into a grin revealing razor sharp fangs.

**''You really shouldn't have come here, mortal. Kukuku now how about you feel just a morsel of this boys true pain? Hmmm?'' **this...entity spoke, it's voice was unlike anything Inzochi heard, but before he could even speak. _Pain_, levels of untold amounts of pain flooded every part of his body, nothing absolutely _nothing_ could have amounted to the pain he felt. He felt as if his body was being boiled alive, as if he was being dumped into a active volcano or into a pit of hot acid. Every part of his nerve system was on fire and his brain felt as it was being picked apart piece by piece.

He could only hear the entity laughing with not a bit of sympathy for him. **''Remember, this is what you and your Hokage wanted. You probed his mind and now... you shall learn the true meaning of suffering! RAAAARRRRGGGHH!'' **and it _screamed_ and it was like a thousand bijuu's roaring inside his head He could no longer see, no longer hear, no longer smell...all he felt...

Was pain...

_''..ochi!''_

_''INZOCHI!''_

Suddenly, Inzochi woke up with a gasp and he looked down to see his hand was still on the boy head and as if his hand was on fire he yanked his hand away and took a few steps back. His eyes refused to look at anything, but at the boy who by now had his eyes on him with a look of confusion on his features. He felt someone shake him, but he could do nothing, but stare into Naruto's oblivious blue eyes, not knowing whether or not that _thing_ he saw would suddenly jump out and rip him to pieces.

''INZOCHI! Look at me!'' finally he was shaken by Sakumo and he tore his gaze from the boy and look to both Hiruzen and Sakumo.

''H-hokage-sama...S-sakumo-san...'' he uttered just before Hiruzen laid his hand on the mans shoulder, instantly it began to calm the man yet it did not completely ease him of what he just saw.

''What's wrong? What did you see? Is Naruto alright?'' Sakumo asked while Hiruzen remained silent while Naruto simply observed with a quizzical tilt of his head. He was utterly confused about what just happened, one moment he did as he was told and the next this happened.

Inzochi began to take deep breaths as his hand latched on his chest, his heart was beating at a rate that he would have figured it would blow out of his chest. However he took it all into account and yet couldn't for the life of him find anything else that was mentally jarring the boy. Yet whatever that...thing was said something was up with this boy and wasn't because of his mental state either.

This boy just wasn't normal...

However when he thought about it, it was rare, but his clan head had told him some children unconsciously developed mental defenses to help protect them from the nightmares of war. Something that was built upon from their imagination. So that was probably what he just saw it was the first time seeing it, but it just felt so...real.

''He's mentally sound Hokage-sama, I just need to discuss this with you in further detail at a later time if you would be so kind?'' he tried to not sound so terrified as he was on the inside. Yet what he saw in that boy was unlike anything he'd ever seen or read in any book. It made the nightmares he'd had as a child look pathetic in comparison.

Hiruzen stared at him for a good long and tense moment before he nodded, ''Very well, we will speak more about this later. If he is mentally sound than he can join the Shinobi Academy with the newest batch of students. Go on home Inzochi and get some rest, I will call you tomorrow for a further analysis on what you've seen.'' he said making Inzochi nod. Hastily he stood up and bid Sakumo and nod before he glanced to Naruto and quickly walked to the door and left with due haste.

He needed to get as far away from the boy as possible!

Watching him go Hiruzen gave a sigh and rubbed his temples in frustration, if going into the boys mind caused _that _kind of reaction that meant Sakumo's entourage wasn't without his own demons. Which itself was hard to believe from a 5 year old, but he had come to learn that in the world of shinobi anything was possible.

Looking to the duo he spoke, ''Alright, with that settled Sakumo you can lead Naruto to the academy tomorrow, I'll let the instructors know ahead of time to be expecting him, alright?'' he got a small nod from the man before Hiruzen looked to Naruto who now looked as he ever did, not a single expression was on his face. No sign of emotion was in the butchering 5 year old's eyes.

_'The real test will come tomorrow, we shall see how unique you are Naruto. Although I worry for what Inzochi saw in you... the true test will be to see how you will handle those around your age.'_

_''_You're both dismissed than...'' he said this and the two were about the leave, but he raised his hand. ''Wait one moment I forgot to ask...'' here he pointed at Sakumo with a clear look in his eyes.

''Mind explaining to me what happen to you, Sakumo?'' he asked and this time the man could only let out a sigh before he pointed at Naruto with a deadpan expression on his bludgeoned face.

''_He_ happened Hokage-sama, I made the mistake of going to wake him up this morning by shaking him... and the next thing I knew I was on the floor when he socked me in the eye. After that I was pummeled by the kid for a good minute until he realized it was me and stopped. But the damage was done...'' he was hesitant to admit this and it tore his pride all too hell that he was taken by surprise by a 5 year old. But by kami the kid moved far too fast to have been possible, and he hit deceptively stronger than his frame would suggest.

At this Hiruzen rose an eyebrow in surprise before he looked to Naruto who didn't seem the least bit ashamed in what he did and when he saw Hiruzen's questioning look he decided to explain. ''I...lived in a very chaotic place so when I had the chance to actually sleep I took it and when someone disturbs it I... just _act_.'' he said with a shrug causing the Hokage to smile in amusement, but underneath that he was amazed, the boy may not know it, but he'd already been conditioned to such a degree that he developed a twitch most veteran shinobi developed over years.

It was a self-defense mechanism in shinobi, it's built over time but initially your awareness is so honed that if you feel someone come at you in your sleep you will attack without warning. This boy though seemed to verify everyone as a threat, but if his past was as chaotic as he imagined than he couldn't fault him. Nevertheless, he looked to Sakumo with his amused smile and it made the man slump in defeat, oh he knew he was gonna hold this over the man.

''I see, nothing a few ice packs won't cure now you're both dismissed. And Naruto, I await to see some good results from you.''

The redhead turned to the Hokage and at this gave the leader of Konoha a small smile. ''I will not disappoint.'' and with that he bid farewell to the man and followed soon after a slightly sulking Sakumo. Hiruzen just smiled before he turned and walked to the window of his office and stared down at Konoha, his beloved village, the reason he and his shinobi fought so hard to protect it.

''Yes...show me what you got, Naruto.''

_'Show me why Mito-sama has so much faith in you...so much faith that she said those words to me yesterday.'_

Too bad he never noticed as Naruto walked away at the edges of the boys iris a sinister hue of crimson began to take form before it faded.

* * *

**Done, it was a short chapter that I felt needed to address the importance that since Naruto is a War Orphan he needed to be checked by any mental scarrings he may have suffered. Now it's worked to weave more of what I got planned into the fold kukukuku! And no that was NOT the Sharingan in his eye because as I said Naruto will not have any recorded bloodline in the Naruto-verse.**

**Ahem sorry about that, anyway all criticism is much appreciated I know this was a weird chapter, but it's all apart the plan.**

**Anyway time for a power nap!**

**Tally ho!**


	4. Terrifying First Impressions

**I know it's been awhile since the last update, but I've been doing other stuff, been brainstorming multiple ideas at once. Also, I am quite displeased that there aren't more Sasuke fics out there, its a bit depressing really. Also in accordance to the reviews from last chapter about what went down with Naruto. It's a secret, but it is NOT a Bijuu by any means.**

**Now I've been thinking for a while about the pairing and I'm honestly split on adding 2 or 3 more or just settling on just one more girl. It's hard to decide so share me your honest opinions and not just empty words please.**

**Now enjoy!**

"_Restraint? Whats that?" __**~Kazama Naruto**_

* * *

**Naruto: Rise of Kazama Naruto**

Chapter 3: Terrifying First Impressions

_Dead azure eyes drifted open to look upon a barren wasteland of which had no semblance of wildlife to be seen for miles on end. The only few noteworthy things about this wasteland was the vast amounts of craters, ravines, gashes in the earth. The mountains in the distance were either obliterated or some were half destroyed or sliced in half. Among the ground was an uncountable number of corpses of shinobi, kunoichi and even samurai. Each were dead in ways that begged to question if they were killed by a human or a monster due to the fact some were crushed into a blood paste while others seemed to have been **devoured** partially. It was sickening, it was brutal, it would have made the most seasoned and grizzly of warrior's hurl up the contents of their stomach._

_But he felt nothing, he felt no sickness, no sympathy for the dead nor weakness at what he saw. He only saw the truth of the world, the bare bone truth of the orld he had been born in, stripped of its many layers of lies and deceits; all he saw was the world for what it was. Yet he didn't stop when everyone else did and fell to their knee's in despair. He walked with bare feet, scarred and bloody with each step he took on the blood soaked battlefield. His eyes looked up into the sky only to see it was pitch black and the strange phenomenon of the full moon eclipsing the sun casting a ebony veil across the planet._

_Yet it didn't deter him in the slightest, even as the world around him began to get consumed by an encroaching darkness that threatened to swallow him whole. He kept moving forward with no purpose, only the instinct of survival is what pushed him forward. His willpower and intent to survive pushed his body beyond mortal limits as he trudged among the wasteland with no way of knowing where he was going._

_It was just the intent of moving that he cared for, if he halted, stopped for a single moment he knew he would get swallowed and dragged into the darkness._

_And it was, as the young boy known as Naruto trekked through the blackened battlefield, that he soon felt a presence appear behind him and yet he didn't so much as make a move as he kept moving. Even as the presence made itself known by coming beside him and whispering into his ear._

_**'Truly, you are the child born from the consequences of this cursed world, you amaze me so much, boy. Yet I am curious, what is it that drives you? What urges your broken and beaten body to keep moving forward? What possesses you to take each shaky step forward, even when your body is damaged beyond mortal limits?'** the...entity spoke with a deep voice yet it was smooth as silk to the boy's ears. He could sense it, practically feel it's hand upon his shoulder yet it didn't give off an oppressive feeling like all others that threatened him or attacked him. It was just...there, with him, as if it always was there to begin with. It held no intention to harm him nor did it give off the ill intentions of the many others he had slain to survive._

_It almost felt as if it was...testing him._

_His mind began to operate enough to wonder what this entity was, where did it come from, why was it speaking to him, but the most important question was when he asked himself. Why did this entity feel so familiar to him?_

_Unresponsive to its words the entity continued seemingly undeterred from the Kazama's lack of response. **'You are... a true glorified cursed child. The embodiment of the Kami's wickedness upon mankind, but I wonder. Will you come crawling out of that blood filled abyss you've made for yourself, just to smite the world you were born in? Or act out the destiny thrust upon you? I await to see what you will do, little Maelstrom.'** the voice spoke, with a tone that both tested him and yet was comforting also. As if it was the voice of a grandfather speaking to his grandson._

_And suddenly, as if it were kami reaching out to him, a piercing light shot through the darkness and he looked up to see the strangest color of red. Waving in the air like a fiery mane of liquid fire and slowly he reached forth and grabbed hold of the long tresses of red hair that seemed to uplift him from the abyss._

* * *

_''N-naruto-kun!''_

Suddenly, blue eyes snapped open to see one Uzumaki Kushina looking at him with a flush on her cheeks her violet eyes were staring at him with surprise, confusion and a great amount of embarrassment, but there was also an equal amount of something else in her eyes that made it seem like she was _very content_. Blinking in confusion, finally awaking to the realm of life he heard Sakumo let out a heart chuckle behind him and than he saw why.

His hand was tenderly going through one of Kushina's long red tresses without a hint of hesitation. His hand had been going through her long hair, letting it run through his fingertips and in the process he'd pulled Kushina, who he remembered was walking alongside him, was now directly side-by-side with him, as in they were touching they were so close together.. Slowly he came to realize he must have urged her to come closer as he absently ran his hand through her hair.

''Ah...'' he blinked once, twice, thrice before he pulled his hand away from the clearly flustered redhead, from the expression on his face he seemed a bit put out at what he'd done, but didn't seem to think much on it. ''My apologies, Kushina.'' he apologized to his first friend in Konoha and his tone did speak that was sincere about it. But the redhead only glanced him for a moment before glancing away keeping her face away from his eyes so she could hide her darkening cheeks from his eyes. Absently she fiddled wit her hair to ease her hammering heart of what just transpired, of what her fellow redhead friend, that was a boy, had done.

And so boldly at that!

''D-don't worry about Naruto-kun..'' she stammered although outwardly she was trying in vain to suppress the blush marring her cheeks. Inwardly on the other hand, she was trying to figure out what had made her new and seemingly bold friend do that. One moment he was walking alongside her just staring off into space and than a second later he was running his hand through her hair in a tender and comforting way that it made her unconsciously scoot closer to him so that she could fully experience his touch.

It was strange, for she had seen first hand what kind of strength Naruto possessed, seeing him able to crush a rock into nothing but dust and break bones of people three times their age. Yet his touch when going through her hair had been a vast change from what had first seen. It was tender and comforting enough to make her body want to move closer to him and wait!_ wait! __**wait!**__ Kushina! Calm down! _

But still the thought plagued her, why did he do that? Not that she was uncomfortable about, well maybe a tad bit at first, but quickly that went away with how gentle he was with her. She wouldn't mind if he did it again to be entirely honest...

Sakumo just watched this interaction with a bemused expression, amusement clear in his eyes as he saw the blossoming friendship between his protege Naruto with Konoha's soon to be Nidaime Kyuubi jinchūriki, Uzumaki Kushina. It just started, but he could already tell the two had formed a strong bond the moment they met and it seemed to only get stronger the more they were with each other, which was relevant right now seeing the way Naruto had done what he did.

It worried him as to why he did it, but played it off thinking the boy was having minor relapses from the mental test placed on him yesterday.

Regardless, Sakumo rubbed his chin as he pondered on what would be happening today, currently he was escorting both Naruto and Kushina to the Academy under the orders of Hiruzen. He'd helped Naruto get ready for his first day at the academy, showing him the basic morning rituals a normal person would need to do in order to be ready. He had to teach him how to brush his teeth, get dressed, gather up his supplies. As for showering he let the boy figure that out himself only handing him a towel, a rag and shampoo and a bar of soap before pushing him into the bathroom.

He also learned his lesson around the boy when it came to waking him up, this time he hadn't made the mistake of trying to wake up to boy from shaking him and instead shouted his name and slammed his door causing him to jump from his bed and literally attach himself to the ceiling. He had received a rather nasty glare from the boy for that, but he only laughed it off.

So after he helped the boy get ready he was approached by one of the Hokage's Anbu who left him a message to go and retrieve Kushina from her apartment where she lived with her current caretaker that was charged with helping her. However her caretaker was pulled for an emergency at the hospital so he was tasked to get her. He wasn't troubled by it and actually welcomed it because it allowed him to see the sight of Kushina actually bringing down her fellow redhead enigmatic redhead to the ground in a full front hug. That was caused because she soon learned she would be attending the academy with him on the same day.

And Sakumo swore she lit up like a sun and shot off like a rocket toward Naruto with speeds that surprised even him.

Since than Kushina had stuck to Naruto like glue, but right now she truly was attached at his hip and didn't seem like she would be going anywhere from now on. Oh well, Sakumo chuckled, the boy would soon begin to learn of the wonders and troubles of a woman at a young age.

_'My prayers are with you, my young friend.'_ Sakumo thought

For a moment Sakumo took the time to look at the two kids, Kushina was dressed in similar clothing from yesterday only in a different color. Her kimono was a dark red while her obi was yellow.

Naruto on the hand was wearing clothing that the boy thought would suit him well since he was training to be a shinobi. And Sakumo took it upon himself to help the boy along by buying him what he needed. So Naruto's attire consisted of a fish net shirt which were covered by a black hoodie with red trimmings. He also wore black shinobi pants and black shinobi sandals. Attached to his hip was his pouch of Ninja tools and his backpack was over his back carrying his supplies for the academy.

Sakumo had to admit too, the majority of the overall black contrasted very well with Naruto's spiky blood red hair. His hair had been cut to be a moderate length and at what Naruto felt comfortable with which was just past his neckline. The bangs still covered his ears and shadowed parts of his eyes, but it didn't seem so unruly as it once looked. Overall the boy cleaned up pretty well.

Shaking himself from his reverie Sakumo looked up and his face brightened when he saw the Academy coming in sight and with it the Hokage Tower. He could see many other parents both civilians and clan's alike escorting their children to the academy for their first day. Most were already inside and he looked down at Naruto and Kushina and put his hands on their shoulders respectively getting their attention, blue and violet eyes looked up at him and he spoke. ''Alright you two, we've reached the academy. This is as far as I can take you, from here on you just need to go through that door and speak with the instructor on the other side. Just mention your names and he will lead you both to your respective classes.'' he urged the two by pushing them forth a tad causing them to stumble a bit.

''Now run along you little rascals, you don't want to be late on your first day.'' he said ushering them forward with a smile and the two seemingly nodded. Well Kushina gave a determined grin and pumped her fist in the air while proclaiming loudly. ''Hah! Let's do this Naruto-kun!'' she said slapping her friend on the shoulder before she hurried along to the door while Naruto just showed a smile at his friends exuberant behavior, finding it yet again refreshing from what he was used to.

But just as he was about to walk toward her he heard Sakumo speak his name in a drastic change in his tone, it was downright serious.

''Naruto...'' the Hatake waited for the boy to look toward him which he did with a questioning look, ''Remember what I told you last night, this is your first time being around so many people especially around those of your age. So, when it comes to sparring try to restrain yourself and do be on your best behavior, alright?'' he asked his young protege who simply blinked at him before stating the same response he told him last night and it made a small amount of dread build up in Sakumo's gut.

''I will try, I will...restrain myself...but should they act like those kids from before that tried to hurt Kushina..._I will act without hesitation_, Sakumo-san.'' he stated it as a fact and Sakumo knew damn well the boy meant what he said. This is whay he was worried, but ultimately he could do nothing about it. The Hokage had full reign on the boy's Shinobi academic life from henceforth and what he did or planned for the boy was all up to him.

He was starting to kinda regret ever telling his leader about the boy and how he found him with those dead Kumo shinobi...

Sighing he ruffled the boys hair before he stood up, ''Very well, just try and not cause to big of a ruckus alright? I still got an earful from the parents of those kids you and Kushina beat up yesterday.'' he said which was true, the parents had come up to him and Hokage about the incident and began to complain and spout insults about the two 5 year old's.

That is until the Hokage silenced them with a flash of his killing intent and ordered them to leave otherwise face punishment in being removed entirely from the village. He and the Hokage had all the evidence that pointed out that it was the graduates, _ex-graduates,_ that instigated the conflict. They tried to refute the claims, but again the evidence was backed by Mito Uzumaki herself. And suddenly they clammed up and walked out the door for they knew if they tried to go against the word of Uzumaki Mito, was an automatic sign of treason and you would be cast out of Konoha or worse executed. To go against her was like going against the daimyo, her political status was higher than that of a Hokage and was treated as such.

Naruto merely nodded at the Jonin before he began making his way to the academy chasing after Kushina's back, but just as he as at the door he turned to the Hatake and offered the smallest smile to the man who literally gave him this new chance at life. ''Thanks, Sakumo-san.'' and with that said the boy walked inside while Sakumo watched him go with a shake of his head.

''Heh, alright now time to go see Hokage-sama.'' he said before he vanished in a swirl of smoke and leafs, initiating the shushin. He was ordered to meet with the Hokage after he dropped off the two kids to go and meet up with him. For what he wasn't entirely sure, but he knew it had something to do with the mental test put upon Naruto yesterday and just how it all went down.

He was_ really_ looking forward to what the Yamanaka saw in that boy's head...

**Shinobi Academy**

Naruto caught up to his fellow redhead and was currently walking toe-in-toe while following one of the instructors that were at the door. They had mentioned their names and it took the man, a seasoned Chunin, a few minutes to find their names and when he did he ushered the duo to follow him to their class.

Thus we could find both Naruto and Kushina following the man as he checked which classroom they were being sent to and while Naruto didn't seem the slightest bit nervous, the same however could not be said for his redheaded female companion. Contrary to what she said before she entered, Kushina was rather nervous about this, since it was all new to her. Since she was tasked to leave her home, Uzushio, her family, behind to come to Konoha. A completely foreign land to her, tasked to come here for some still unknown reason besides it being a personal request from the esteemed Uzumaki Mito.

While she was excited about that she was still new to this land and the first impression she got wasn't really good since those graduates from yesterday started that incident. The whole thing left a bad impression on her, making her wonder if everyone in Konoha acted that way towards people not native to Hi no Kuni.

_'Although, I'm not alone in that regard I would think...'_ Kushina thought fondly as she glanced towards the impassive Naruto. He didn't look anything like the natives of Hi no Kuni and he even had a trait all Uzumaki's shared which was red hair, but his was a deeper and richer shade of blood red and his was spiky while the rest of her clans was purely straight. He also had the deepest blue eyes she had ever seen before and so far she hadn't seen anyone else with those kind of eyes before.

And even if she did, she felt they wouldn't even compare to Naruto's.

Although she didn't know as much as she would like to know about Naruto she still felt immensely more comfortable around him than she did the majority of others in Konoha and she didn't know if that was because of him being the only one to stand up for her against those bastards from yesterday. Or because of that strange warmth he seemed to emanate from every pore of his body. It wasn't something she was accustomed to, but just by being near him she felt a sense of a protection that only he seemed to give off. Which made him all the more unique in her eyes.

Smiling benevolently towards Naruto, she felt a trickling amount of apprehension begin to bubble up. What if she was separated from Naruto? Than she was going to be alone with a bunch of people she didn't know and honestly she didn't even like the sound of that.

No, no she did not!

Finally the Chunin seemed to find the classroom, ''Aha! Here we go, well you're both in luck seems you've both been assigned the same classroom, Class number 26.'' and like that her worries were answered like it was a blessing of the kami for the young Uzumaki. The two could hear the young children inside causing a ruckus, speaking loudly and barely paying much attention to their teacher. Sighing in relief she turned to Naruto who was looming at the door to the classroom, only this time she saw a look of apprehension on his face.

Blinking, Kushina began to realize maybe Naruto was a bit nervous about this?

''Alright you two follow me.'' the chunin said before he gave two knocks causing the class inside to go silent as the instructor on the inside gave the go ahead for him to come in. With confirmation he opened the door and walked inside with Kushina and Naruto following him.

And what welcomed the duo was a classroom filled to the brim with kids around their age, each one seemed to have different characteristics especially for a select few others have stark differences. But they all shared one thing in common, and that was the fact that they were all staring at the two coming into the classroom. It was silent with only the occasional mutter and whisper, but they ultimately said nothing as their instructor looked towards the man that brought the duo into his class.

''Ah, the last of the students have arrived I see very good, thanks for bringing them here Chihaku-san.'' he said to the man simply gave a nod and glanced toward the two before he handed their files to their new instructor before leaving wordlessly, leaving the two redheads in the hands of their shinobi instructor.

He was in his late twenties with messy brown hair and a bushy brown goatee. He had a lightly tanned complexion and beady black eyes that were currently going over Naruto and Kushina's folders, written personally by the Hokage himself. He was dressed in the standard Konoha shinobi uniform with the green flak-jacket and his Konoha headband was tied around his forehead. It took him a few moments to go over their folders while it caused varying a few reactions of raising his eyebrow in surprise.

All the while Naruto and Kushina stood side-by-side looking directly at the class, Naruto didn't show a change in his facial expression, but his eyes were staring them all down with a intense look. Sakumo had right, there was a lot of kids his age here, and he was a bit unsettled about being around so many, but he restrained himself the best he could. These kids hadn't been through what he has and knew nothing about the horror of what they would be stepping into as a career. He looked them all over as did they to him and Kushina, absorbing each of their appearance with a keen eye, a habit ingrained into him when he was alone. Having been forced to learn and adapt to remembering the appearance of those that intruded on his home so he could track them down and kill them.

Only this time he was using it to remember the faces of his newest classmates, but seemingly he was ignorant of the fact that his intense eyes were unsettling the majority of the students. The select few were of the kids from Konoha's Clans.

Naruto than looked to Kushina and would have smiled at the fact Kushina was standing up straighter and staring at the class with a determined expression. Despite the few who were giggling or chuckling at her appearance, she still stood tall which he found to be admirable. He was glad to see his friend wasn't acting like she was yesterday, and was standing tall without a shred of trepidation.

''Hm I see, you two have been brought in from outside Konoha's walls. And Hokage-sama seems to state each of your unique cases in detail. Well, alright then, my name is Umino Saiko now would you two start introducing yourself to the class, starting with you Uzumaki-san.'' Saiko stated to the two children who looked at him, than Naruto pat her on the shoulder and urged her on and thankful for what he did Kushina swallowed hard before she stepped forward.

Her violet eyes took in the classroom filled with children, sizing them all up with a strong look. _'I can't let them think I'm a weak timid little girl, yesterday was a good example of that, I need to make a strong impression on them otherwise they will try to pick on me.'_ taking a deep breath she gripped her hand and pumped her fist in the air and shouted for all the classroom to hear.

''My name is Uzumaki Kushina and I will be the first female Hokage dattebane!''

Silence...

Naruto stared at Kushina's back with slightly wide eyes before he smiled at his friends goal, it was a nice one he noted, but then his stared turned hard when it adjusted to the children of the class. His eyes narrowed when the majority began to laugh at Kushina's declaration. Some were downright pointing fingers and banging their fists on their desks and he glanced to even see their supposed instructor chuckling to himself in the corner. His face finally broke into a scowl at this, but it deepened when he saw them calling her names and outright laughing at her.

''Hahaha! Did you hear her? She wants to be the first female Hokage? As if!''

''How can she even think of being Hokage with that kind of look? She looks pretty weak!''

''No one would take her seriously when she looks like that too, she looks like a Tomato!''

Than it got worse when they began to chant it while poiinting at a trembling Kushina. ''Tomato-chan, _tomato-chan_, **tomato-chan!**'' soon they broke into a fit of mocking laughter which set Kushina off, gritting her teeth she pointed at them and yelled at them.

''Oi, go fuck yourself you snot nosed brats! Keep laughing at me and I swear I'll!'' she never got to finish as they laughed right in her face not even afraid of her at this point. It wasn't like she could touch a hair on their head, she'd get in trouble with the instructors after all. But Naruto wasn't going to let them ridicule his friend like this, especially since the instructor didn't seem to be stopping it.

The Kazama let loose a throaty growl which ripped from inside his throat before he clenched his fists together. These brats...had essentially dug their graves...

Restraint? What was that again about, _Restraint?_

Naruto didn't wait another second when he saw Kushina begin to tremble, he stepped forward without waiting for the instructor to say a word and he narrowed his eyes. His blue eyes quickly went ice cold and suddenly the temperature in the room immediately dropped a few degree's. Suddenly, Saiko noticed this and froze with his eyes widening in alarm when he felt a considerable amount of killing intent swell up in his class room and looked to see it originating from the red haired boy. _'That boy! He's actually giving off such killing intent?! Who the hell did you just bring into my classroom, Hokage-sama!'_ he thought in panic.

Naruto growled deeper as he put a comforting hand on Kushina's shoulder causing her to still at his comforting gesture before he spoke out, his voice dripping with such venom it nearly sent all the kids, civilian or from clans, lose control of their bladders.

''And my name is Kazama Naruto, I don't have a goal at this moment, but I do care for my friend and if _any of you_ keep laughing at her or mocking her, I will not hesitate _to break you over my knee!''_ to emphasize his point his other hand lashed out shattering the instructor's desk into splinters. Paper and debris shot into the air, and the classroom was rocked as what remained of the desk was sent flying before it slammed into the wall behind the students where it exploded completely upon impact.

Than silence came...

Eternal silence broke over the classroom as they all turned their gaze on Naruto and Kushina, the latter's eyes were wide before a shy grin broke out across her face as a red flush colored her cheeks. Happy, that was the only emotion Kushina could feel as naruto stood up for her again and in such a awesome display like that!

_'Sugoi!'_ she mentally thought and alas Kushina was blissfully ignorant of the true terror her fellow red head was unleashing upon their classmates and this included their instructor too. For what they saw was Naruto's glaring blue eyes staring them all down, his face etched with a deep scowl. The lights in the room flickered and the shadows in the room seemed to twitch and grow even darker.

Than they saw the it, _it_ being something that began to form behind Naruto's back, it was as if their fear was creating this thing, which was a transparent image of a ghostly vile specter clothed in white. It had long shaggy white hair and dark greyish-blue skin, while it's teeth were long and sharp while being pitch black. Two red horns protruded from it's head and it's eyes were a unholy gold which narrowed upon the classroom with an equal amount of anger as the one who seemed to conjure the specter before them.

And...it grinned

Cue loss of control of bladders...

Soon enough the smell of urine became evident in the room as many of the students began to soil themselves in fear before the evidently terrifying redhead that was standing up for Kushina who was completely oblivious of what was happening.

_'Sweet merciful kami! What in the absolute fuck is that thing?!' _Saiko thought in true fear as the specter eyed it as well, eyes glinting in a demented glee that spoke of nothing else, than eternal suffering and pain for the chunin. His fate ultimately decided the moment he didn't stop the class from harassing Kushina.

He knew it, deep down in his very soul that he was truly _fucked!_

As this happened a number of students that were trying and failing to control themselves from this, namely those a select few from clans and war orphans tried to stop themselves from hyperventilating. They had all been trained at a early age to be shinobi, the very basics, but they were never trained to handle killing intent this early so it had degree's of effect on them all. The Clan heirs were not excluded from this and among them, a raven haired girl had narrowed her sights on the redheaded duo with a look of intrigue and fear, specifically speaking on Naruto.

She felt sweat fall from his forehead, but the raven haired girl known as Uchiha Mikoto thought solely to herself as she did her best to keep her composure from the overwhelming presence of Naruto's dangerous presence.

_'Who the hell is this guy!?'_

It would seem Naruto had just a very deep impression on the young girl...

Another was a kid with spiky blonde hair and similar blue eyes to Naruto who was pale and sweating in fear before Naruto's presence. He bit his lip hard enough to draw blood, but it didn't stave off the overwhelming fear that was flooding all of his senses. His hands grabbed hold of his desk so he could try to keep himself from falling due to losing all feeling in his legs. One, Namikaze Minato, was staring at Kazama Naruto in mixed feelings of fear, shock, but most of all fascination towards the boy.

_'Woah...awesome'_ that was all Minato could think

**Same Time-Hokage Office**

Completely unknowing of this event taking place, Hiruzen was rubbing his temples in frustration as he went over the information given to him in detail by Inzochi. He was seated at his desk with said Yamanaka seated infront of him along with Sakumo who also had a look of apprehension at the information that was just revealed to him.

''I am getting too old for this...'' Hiruzen muttered to himself before he looked down at the papers detailing about Naruto's psychiatric test from yesterday. He'd been called or the Yamanaka and Sakumo to come to him after the Hatake dropped off Naruto at the academy. This way they had plenty of time to go over what had happened and since he pushed off all his other meetings for this he thought he would be well prepared for whatever it was Inzochi found in the boy's skull.

He was wrong, horribly and utterly wrong in every way.

''So, let me get this straight, when you first entered his mind you found yourself in a barren wasteland, a battlefield to be exact. And on that battlefield was the corpses of thousands of men and women, shinobi, kunoichi and samurai alike. The battlefield was damaged by multiple classes of the elements and monumental degree's of devastation to the landscape. Their was crows picking at these corpses, but than your attention was drawn to a woman screaming and when you looked for the source you found this...'' he trailed on before looking at the Yamanaka.

It was pretty much evident the man hadn't had much sleep, his eyes were red and he had bags under his eyes, signs of sleep deprivation. He was fiddling with his hands, but seemed to answer the Hokage with two words, words that came out in a haunted whisper from the man.

''A _monster_...I saw a monster, Hokage-sama.'' he said looking at his leader with a faraway look in his eyes, they were glazed over with a sense of fear only he could understand, he'd underestimated how terrifying and fear inducing that...thing was. It haunted him when he was awake and deeply so when he tried to sleep.

Hiruzen frowned at this bit of information, ''Yes, you said as such in your report, you've described this creature to have first appeared as a somewhat humanoid physique, but he was entirely made of darkness. It also _talked_ to you and made you suffer Naruto's pain, is that right?'' he saw Inzochi flinch, but nod regardless, his head was bowed low hiding his horrified expression from his leader. He was ashamed, but he was too scared to look at his leader at this moment. Afraid that creature would bleed out from his Hokage's face in a attempt to scare him as it did to everyone else he saw.

He was seeing nothing but the face of a monster everywhere he looked...

Sighing Hiruzen continued, ''After this you were sent hurling through Naruto's memories experiencing a lot of the pain he'd suffered, but it proved to far too much to remember what you saw. After what felt like hours you found yourself in nothing, but darkness. It was there you wee confronted by this creature which was to hurt you. Inducing into you Naruto's pain on a level that it felt like you were dying multiple times over and when you felt as if you were losing the brink of your sanity this creature...screamed and you were pulled out of his consciousness, is this all true?'' he needed absolute confirmation from Inzochi before he could fully comprehend what was laid out before him.

''Every word, Hokage-sama.'' Inzochi said making Sakumo frown in apprehension at this information and he looked to see the Hokage looking at him with a disturbed frown as well. This information was most...confusing as it was troubling. Succumbing to his annoyance, Hiruzen gave a sigh as he massaged his temples.

''If that's the case, then that boy has some dark demons swimming around in that skull of his...''

If only you knew Hiruzen...

_If only you knew how right you were..._

* * *

**And done, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter cause I sure did, but I'm even more excited for the next chapter because I can finally let loose on Naruto's skill and talent as a shinobi. His budding relationship with Kushina and possibly new friends? Who knows!**

**I contemplated about Minato and was leaning towards not introducing him into the story, but I figured if I did that he was essentially taking his place and I didn't want that. I want Minato here, because it will make it interesting down the line between Naruto and Minato and their conflicting views on life.**

**Lastly, I am still up in the air about adding another girl or two for Naruto, it's staying Naruto x Kushina there is no doubt about that, but should I add 1 or two more? Not sure, I'll ultimately decide down the line, but your honest opinions would be a great help to this dilemma.**

**Now with that said, time for a power nap!**


	5. Instinctual Consequences

**Before I even begin this chapter I need to thank **_Lieutenant Fox _**on his advice, his criticism is the kind I've desperately been needing and for that I thank you friend. Because of your helpful words, I've taken to bringing more depth into the story and characters so that it could make it more interesting and hopefully fleshed out.**

**As for the pairing, I won't speak of it anymore since I feel it's just gonna detract from the work I'm putting into these chapters. Eventually they will bleed out into each chapter, but be at peace of mind it will not be a harem.**

**Now with that out of the way enjoy!**

"_He is not a prodigy nor is he a genius like most would believe; he is something else entirely. He is in his own league, he is a person that grows by leaps and bounds by sheer instinct and by being put through battle. And with our warring times, he will be thrust into warfare and with that innate instinct of his...he will become a truly dangerous presence in our world." **~Sarutobi Hiruzen**_

* * *

**Naruto: Rise of Kazama Naruto**

Chapter 4: Instinctual Consequences

''So, why have you summoned me here, Hiruzen?'' a voice as strong as steel and as sharp as a sword cut through the Council Chambers within the Hokage Tower. The voice was quiet, but carried no small amount of heat towards the current Sandaime Hokage who was currently relaxing in his chair sipping away at his tea with an air of nonchalance. The words didn't seem to affect the aging kage in the slightest which it didn't he was used to the usual banter of heated exchange of words with this man.

Said man he was seated with sat on the other side of a long coffee table. It was a man around his age with a tan complexion, he was dressed in formal shinobi attire similar consisting of all black; a black long sleeved shirt with a mesh shirt underneath while he wore black pants that reached his calves which were wrapped from there and to his ankles in medical tape. Finishing it off he wore black shinobi sandals and with a Konoha flak jacket. He had eye level shaggy black hair and sharp black eyes, around his forehead was the standard Konoha headband tied around with a black cloth; and he also sported a x-shaped scar on his chin. And strapped to his left hip was a pouch and over his back was a normal ninjato.

This man stared back at Konoha's current Hokage without any form of fear in his eyes, only a solid iron will forged in fire and blood smoldered in his eyes. He rarely cared for these meetings of pleasantries with his old friend and when they actually were for something important it usually had something to do with trivial matters that did not concern him or Konoha's overall security and status in the war. It's why he felt his time was usually wasted when he could be going out and doing something to ensure Konoha's power was not shifted in the war.

Indeed, Shimura Danzo was not a patient man when it came to incompetence or meaningless drawls that didn't involve Konoha's security and overall position of military might. Anything that concerned the civilians was not of his concern and the only subjects that mattered to him was of the following; Konoha's security and military forces, the status quo of Konoha's status in the Elemental nations and Konoha's overall interests anything less than that was the least of his concerns.

But this was the Hokage and he couldn't exactly refuse a summons from the Hokage, old friends or not and the Sarutobi mentioned it to be the highest priority for him to come. So he'd decided to see what monkey wanted before going back out on the battlefield. There was much to do, much to accomplish in such a short amount of time.

And so he waited, deciding to see what was so important for Hiruzen to pull him off the battlefield so he could speak with him. It had to be urgent, _it better be urgent, _otherwise he may very well blow a gasket on his old friend for wasting his time.

He hadn't needed to wait long...

Hiruzen's eyes tore away from his tea as he let out a small sigh and than his brown eyes cut across to the scarred man infront him. Brown orbs sharpened and turned cold, serious with a touch of supreme authority only an experienced veteran shinobi and Hokage could give off. When the scarred man saw this his eyebrow perked up and he sat up a tad straighter, showing the smallest bit of intrigue to the sudden change in the Hokage's posture.

And that look in his eyes...he'd seen it before, Hiruzen was angry...

_No _Hiruzen never got angry, he corrected himself, Hiruzen got _frustrated_...

And that was never a good thing...

''Danzo, I won't beat around the bush with you, we both have very important matters to deal with since the war is still going strong. So, the reason I summoned you here is pertaining to an incident that occurred a few days ago inside Konoha.'' he said causing Danzo's eyebrow to perk up at this bit of information presented to him. All of his contacts were being spent outside the village to feed information back to him and through him to Hiruzen on the status of the other villages and their shinobi movements. So to hear something happened in Konoha, the village he so cherished was surprising to say the least

Yet he didn't let such surprise show only the raise of his eyebrow showed that Hiruzen had grabbed his attention which the Hokage saw as a no spoken saying for him to continue. Setting his tea cup down he reached inside his robes and pulled out a relatively thin yellow folder which he than placed on the coffee table and slid to Danzo. Than he leaned back and pulled out his pipe, filling it with fresh cut tobacco imported through Kusagakure merchants.

Danzo eyed the folder with a uninterested look before he glanced to Hiruzen who simply lit his pipe and spoke only a few words that made Danzo grab hold of the folder with gusto.

''This incident is pertaining to the Shinobi Academy and more specifically to the _'Future Special War Powers'_ class. A few days ago an incident erupted from that class on the opening day of the academy. This incident was caused by a single individual who in just a matter of an hour nearly sent the entire class into fits of hysteria and pandemonium. You will find information on this single individual in that folder.'' he said before taking a puff from his pipe.

Danzo's eyebrows were now nearing to disappear into the bangs of his hair, such was his surprise and interest. There was now doubting that he was especially interested in what happened in Konoha while he was gone, especially since it concerned itself with the class he and Hiruzen had formed to be the future leading generation of Konoha's highest military shinobi forces. It consisted of all the Clan Heir's and civilians with shinobi parents and gifted War Orphans. It was a class that was dedicated to be taught the finer ethics of what it mean to be a shinobi and get them prepped for War as early as possible.

They were to be the future frontline, to replace the old with the new and show the world the might of Konoha was as strong as every in all it's generation. But to hear something had happened to the class, to the point the majority had suffered a major case of hysteria was worrisome to him. So, he grabbed hold of the folder and popped it open thinking on who the unlucky fool was to have done this deed.

Imagine his surprise when he found a pair of sharp blue eyes staring back at him with a impassive expression. It was the face of a boy with moderately long spiky red hair with six scar like marking marring his cheeks. But it was the boy's eyes that intrigued Danzo for they were eyes that had lost its innocence long ago and had seen horror's others couldn't even fathom.

Oh yes, his interested was piqued now...

_'An Uzumaki? No, he has the red hair, but it's far too spiky and while he does have similar facial features to other Uzumaki's he doesn't have that rounder appearance in their face.'_ he thought to himself before he looked at the boy's information and he gave a small hum as he rubbed his chin, pondering on what he was reading.

_'Kazama...Naruto? Never have I heard of any clan with that name nor have I of any family in Hi no Kuni with that surname, so he must be a war orphan.'_ going over what information that was on the boy he looked to Hiruzen. ''Okay so this kid started this incident, but how did he do it and what's so special about a War Orphan, Hiruzen?'' he asked his old friend/rival who simply sighed and took another puff o his pipe to ease his raging nerves.

''Well the only way I can tell you that is by starting at the beginning. Do you remember that mission I sent Sakumo and his team at the borders of Oni no Kuni? The one planned by me, you, and the Jonin Commander?'' he asked making Danzo narrow his eyes acknowledgment.

''Of course, the one concerning the Kumo incursion that was traveling through the routes in the back countries to attack the village from behind. Yes, I recall sending Sakumo and his team to ambush and cripple the movement, what of it?'' he said, but he had a inkling suspicion this...Naruto had something to do with it. And he was not wrong on that part Hiruzen's eyes if possible became even colder before he exhaled smoke through his nostrils before he pointed at the picture of Naruto in the folder.

''To summarize, this boy basically took that mission away from us one fell swoop. Sakumo and his team stumbled upon the Kumo forces and get this Danzo, _every single one _was dead. Kumo's elite of elite were all killed, slaughtered like cattle, a complete genocide. And each were killed in such a manner that it was, as Sakumo described, sloppy but brutal. And when they got deeper into it, a single Kumo shinobi came crawling out of the grass without his legs, but breathing.'' here he took a breath and saw Danzo was still paying advent attention with incredible scrutiny.

''But then... _that boy_ happened, from what Sakumo described he came out of the grass and killed the shinobi without a shred of mercy, broke his spine and slit his throat. Quick and easy, as if he had been doing it since he could _walk_.''

At that bit of information Danzo's eyes glimmered with incredible interest, a sudden spark of intrigue lit and Hiruzen saw it all too well. ''Are you trying to tell me, a boy of only 5 year's of age slaughtered an entire Platoon of Kumo's finest without any formal shinobi training and was only using a kunai? That's kind of hard to swallow let alone believe, even from you Hiruzen.'' he stated and the Hokage merely sighed. He'd been doing that a lot lately, but that kid seemed to always do something for him to enact these sighs of frustration and exhaustion.

''Danzo, you and I both know that in this world anything is possible and while it seems completely out there we have seen children that possess unprecedented talent or bloodline that makes them far more powerful than most shinobi. But that's hat makes this kid so different from those types of children and other war orphans.'' he muttered making the Shimura's expression scrunch up slightly before realization dawned on him.

''You mean...he doesn't have a bloodline to speak of?'' he said, honestly bewildered at this bit of information.

At this Hiruzen grew deathly silent, eying his old friend with a critical look before he gave a gruff reply. ''So far no he doesn't have a bloodline that's been recorded in all of history that could have allowed a child to do this. The only close clan we could find that even resembled this type of brutal savagery was of the Kaguya Clan. We've taken a blood sample and he doesn't have their bloodline, the Shikotsumyaku or any other Kekkai genkai Konoha has records of. So we have come to the temporary conclusion that this boy doesn't have a bloodline that we know of.'' taking another puff from his pipe he continued.

''It's clear he's not had any formal training as a shinobi, but from what information I could gather from Sakumo and the boy himself; he makes up for that with his so called self-training. Apparently, his caretaker died when he was 3 and he was left alone in the forests of Oni no Kuni to fend for himself. And here's the kicker, he's been teaching himself how to fight like a shinobi by watching and analyzing shinobi battles near the Land of Demons.'' he said in a tense tone, his expression was stoney and cold, not a single bit of mirth was in his eyes as he said this.

At this Danzo's eyes actually began to widen as shock began to flood every part of his begin as spine tingling realization dawned on him. ''Are you implying that boy has been...!'' it was clear to him just as it was Hiruzen who had already come to his own conclusion.

''_Yes_, he killed them with his own natural talent, forged by his own instinctual teaching methods. A self-taught kid who has watched other shinobi fight and seemingly mimicked them to such a degree he's been able to form his own skill set in such a short amount of time. From what Sakumo said he's already learned the Tree-Walking exercise which speaks that he has considerable chakra control at his age. Plus, I've seen his fighting style for myself, it's unorthodox, unpredictable and yet every move is precise and meant to either cripple or kill his opponents with quick crushing blows with bone shattering power. This kid Danzo...'' Hiruzen trailed on taking a shuddering breath as he tried to ease his rattled nerves.

''This kid...is just like _Hashirama-sensei_ and..._Madara_, an instinctual survivor of the highest order.'' he said this as he placed his hand over his eyes as he said this. It was hard to admit it, but it was the cold hard truth, his sensei Hashirama and Madara Uchiha had been geniuses and prodigies in their own right, but they had been born and bred for war, they had to learn every way to survive in a world where you normally didn't pass the age of 30 yrs old.

And this kid was like them every sense of the word when it came to survival, he took the survival of the fittest to the precipice and beyond. Which frightened him to a degree since these days it wasn't nearly as bad as back then and he was happy to think no child would have risen up from the fires of war with the same upbringing of survival as those two Monsters among Shinobi.

Clearly, he had been horribly wrong...

Danzo took this all in stride though, his face going back to a neutral monotone expression which hid his contemplative nature over what was told to him. The gears in his began to turn as he thought up multiple scenario's of how this could potentially be in Konoha's favor. If this kid was like those two potentially wise then they had a monumental boon for the future generation of shinobi. He could prove to be a huge benefit to Konoha's presence in the war and even a trump card if his supposed potential was truly realized.

_'However it is said the strongest of shinobi also came with their own deficiencies, Hashirama was known to be a addict gambler who threw most of his money away and was prone to sudden bursts of depression. Madara on the other hand was said to have been very quick to anger and prone to act out his anger in a display of overusing his full power on those much weaker then himself. So, if this boy is like them potentially wise then he must have something like this.'_ he thought, remembering all he had from reading history on the two and his memories of the two when he was a child.

He decided to voice these thoughts to Hiruzen, ''I see, and I wager he has his own disabilities like those two?'' he said making Hiruzen nod.

''Yeah, and that leads us back to what happened at the academy, you see young Naruto has befriended Uzumaki Kushina when he first came to the village, the same day of her arrival.'' at this Danzo's eyes narrowed. ''You mean he's made friends with the next Kyuubi container? The one Mito-sama has chosen to be her successor?'' he asked in confirmation to which Hiruzen nodded to.

''Yes, and I don't know how exactly this bond of friendship has grown to such a strong degree, but it began when the young Uzumaki was being harassed by a batch of fresh graduates. Naruto stepped in at the time they were about to get violet and uplifted her confidence and together beat down 10 newly graduates genin, some from clans at that with just the two of them. But that was the start of their friendship and probably when how it revealed to me young Naruto's own deficiency.'' he said to which Danzo closed his eye in thought.

While he filed the fact the young Kazama boy had been the first friend the Uzumaki girl, that was to be Konoha's new Kyuubi Jinchūriki for later. He waited to hear what Hiruzen had found out about the boys more abnormal parts that weren't quite right.

Here Hiruzen sat up and stared straight into Danzo's eyes and placed his pipe on the table and intertwined his hands together. ''I've come to the shocking realization that young Naruto has a disorder similar to Madara Uchiha himself. It would seem his bond with the young Uzumaki girl is strong, so strong infact when they introduced themselves to their class at the academy and she was being ridiculed. Naruto stepped in when he was told beforehand by Sakumo to restrain himself, but he did not when he saw their own instructor, Umino Saiko was not stopping it. And what he did was in simple terms, unleashing the worst fear imaginable on any child.'' he stated coolly making Danzo perk an eyebrow in further interest.

''He threatened to break each and every one of them over his knee and threw the teacher's desk across the classroom with enough strength it shattered upon impact. After that he unleashed his killing intent on them Danzo; and from the reports specified from Saiko the killing intent had been so strong it seemed to form an apparition strikingly similar to the _Shinigami_ itself. I would like to think it was just a image conjured in his mind from the fear he felt, but I have my doubts. Nevertheless he did this to stand up for the Uzumaki girl, so it's easy to assume he's quick to anger and prone to act on that anger when he deems fits. And that display of anger has nearly cost us the entire class.'' he said gritting his teeth in frustration.

That bit of news didn't surprise Danzo, if the killing intent from that boy was so dense it could have conjured the _Shinigami_ of all things then there were be some type of mental scarring, if not permanent damage done to their mental health. Killing intent was after all to unleash your intent to kill upon your enemy and upon the many you killed it's said to making your intent to kill all the more stronger. He'd heard rumors of some having such intent it conjured apparitions of demons and monsters.

But the Shinigami? That was new...

_'Exactly how many has this boy killed?'_

Sighing Danzo closed the folder and placed it back on the table and looked back up to Hiruzen with a analyzing gaze. ''So, the boy has the same disorder as Madara, he's prone and quick to anger when it comes to defending for the young Uzumaki and nothing else. And will act upon that act in anyway to end those that have hurt her either physically or mentally. That can be used effectively if tempered, otherwise he is a danger to himself and those around him. A wild card on the battlefield that we do not need. Madara was said to have been able to use that anger at times though to reinforce his power to such degree's it was beyond monstrous.'' he mumbled to himself before he spoke again, his gaze never averting from Hiruzen.

''Who is looking after the boy?'' he asked and the man answered.

''I charged Sakumo to take care of him, seeing as he brought him along willingly he is responsible for the boy's well being. That is until he's become a genin and he'll be forced to find his own stay and support himself.'' Danzo only nodded at this, standard protocol for War Orphans, those that had caretakers in the village would live with them until they either graduated from the academy and became a genin or proved to be an adequate merchant or some other civilian position and were forced to live on their own with only their own income to support them.

''I see. Well, what do you plan for the boy then?'' he asked, but he already had a pretty good what Hiruzen wanted to do.

The Hokage sighed before he pointed at his old friend, ''You already know what I want, you are the only one I know who has been able to train children with similar disorders into proper shinobi of Konoha. Since he's just entered the Academy I cannot do much until he's shown results, but I want you to teach him the way of the shinobi. I want this disorder of his nipped in the bud or so he can control it and use it to his advantage. It's a mission that will have you staying in Konoha at longer intervals of time, but I think you and I both know it could prove to be worth it in the end.''

Danzo on the other hand was not too keen on staying in Konoha while a war was going on, but he had to agree with Hiruzen. If he could teach this kid the proper way of a shinobi and mold this disorder of his. He would prove to be a very useful shinobi on the battlefield, even more so if his potential was completely reached.

His eyes gleamed a cold edge as he planned further, _'And if I can do this right, the boy can prove to be a very useful tool should a time arise for me to step in as the next Hokage.' _giving a shake of his head he gave a nod to Hiruzen.

''I'll accept...on the condition that I can train him the way I want too and without any restrictions.'' he said making Hiruzen frown.

''I can agree to this condition, if you can promise me good results on his mental health and shinobi abilities. Think you can do that, old friend?'' he said, challenging his rival with a not so subtle smirk of bemusement to the Shimura who merely gave a grunt, an expression of a cold and dead serious shinobi etched into his hardened expression. He stood up without a word and made his way to the door and just as he reached it he cast a few words to the kage.

''I'll do more than that Hiruzen, I'll give the boy _4 years_ of my training and by the time he's 9 he'll have graduated early and be drafted into Anbu for his superb skill as a shinobi. I'll make him the ideal shinobi, the perfect tool for Konoha to use in the war. I'll utilize every skill and natural talent he possesses to maximum efficiency. You can count on that.'' he said his eyes gleaming like cold sharp steel as his voice resonated a iron tone that would not break. His words filled with conviction to surpass the task given unto him by Hiruzen and eventually surpass those expectations in such a way that the Sarutobi would not be able to deny his questionable methods.

Hiruzen merely smiled and waved to his old friend, ''Of course, I await to see these results.'' his eyes reflected his expectations for his old friend and they issued the unspoken challenge. If he could mold that boy and temper his bursts of anger and use it to his benefit. He expected nothing less than perfection from Danzo on every single mission he was assigned too.

The man merely gave a grunt before walking out letting the door close behind him and once it did with an audible click, Hiruzen's amused expression shattered into one befitting the Hokage.

''That went much easier than expected, don't you agree Mito-sama?'' he said casting his gaze to the side to see the honorable Uzumaki herself completely meld out of the wall. Her old body becoming more tangible as she appeared out of the wall. Once she was, Hiruzen could see her eyes were closed, but her expression remained completely neutral as ever.

''But of course, Danzo and you even as kids loved to play dangerous games and this is no different. Although it would seem he has become blind by duty and loyalty to not see the underneath of the underneath. It's his ignorance and your dangerous game that will ultimately set course the winds of change.'' she spoke, once again her cryptic manners that to this day befuddled Hiruzen with a sense of wonderment. He briefly played with the thought that Mito-sama became prophetic in old age or something, but his logical mind denied such a thing.

And yet something else in him ringed it to be true...

''Are you not worried? About the boy I mean, Danzo is a cruel task master when it comes to shinobi training and he'll probably whip Naruto into such conditions it'll be dangerous to his health.'' he said, but Mito merely opened her eyes slightly to stare straight into Hiruzen's own, no that was the wrong thing to say, she was staring through him and reading his soul bare as if it were a book.

Than she smiled, ''I believe...Naruto-chan will surprise the both of you, from what I feel from him he has faced far worse than anything you or Danzo could ever dream of dishing out. In fact, I may need to warn you to make sure you don't overstep yourself and accidentally push him too far. If you do...'' she let the threat hang there for a moment before her pupil-less eyes narrowed in complete seriousness, not a hint of mirth present in her eyes as she spoke the cold hard truth that sent a cold shiver of dread up Hiruzen's spine.

''Be careful that you don't unleash the inner demon inside him otherwise this war will be the least of your worries.'' she said, stating it as a complete fact and Hiruzen swallowed, _hard,_ as Mito excused herself with a simple bow of her head.

''Now I must go and make sure Naruto-chan and Kushina-chan are alright, take caution Saru-chan that you don't overstep that boundary. But remember, whatever you do _will not_ change the destiny I feel laying in wait for that boy. _No matter how much you want it too_.'' she added making him flinch from the bite in her tone. Such was its intensity that it felt as if he was now in the presence of a mother lion that was ready to rip out his throat should he prove to be a threat her cub's life. Such was her presence that it made him sweat even after 5 minutes had passed sine she left the room.

Now he understood why Hashirama-sensei was so petrified of Mito-sama...

He wondered who was more scary at this point, all nine bijuu or being stared down by Uzumaki Mito herself.

_'I really hope this was the right thing to do.'_ Hiruzen thought briefly reconsidering if this was such a good idea afterall. But he knew it was too late for that now, and he could only watch it unfold for better or for worse he wouldn't know. He could feel a change was coming and it frightened him to a degree if this change was good or bad because he wasn't sure if this would affect Konoha badly or positively.

He just didn't know...

Unknown to him or the Ancient Uzumaki herself however something was churning up inside Mito's seal, restrained and chained to a floating piece of earth, a giant monstrosity dwelled. Darkness shadowed the creatures appearance, but soon a rumbling chuckle ripped out from it's throat before a pair of sinister crimson orbs snapped open sharp slits glared, piercing through the darkness as it chuckled more and more before it ultimately stopped, letting out a single whisper in the ebony veil of its prison.

**''You humans are so foolish, not even realizing you are playing with fire; you have no idea what you have in your hands, Mito. It would seem, the endless spiral of chaos has given birth to you, creature of darkness. I eagerly await in anticipation to see your new incarnation, _Maō-dono._''**

The shadows quivered and shifted at the mention of that name which echoed within its prison.

And the Kyuubi no Yoko, strongest of all the 9 legendary fabled Bijuu, grinned revealing its massive maw of razor sharp fangs.

* * *

**Done! So what do you think? Took a different approach to the chapter and await for all your criticism guys.**

**As said I won't be talking about the pairing anymore, what I do with it will eventually bleed out into the story as it goes. But keep in mind, it will NEVER be a harem. Not this story, nope!**

**Now off I go, power nap time!**


	6. Friends and Predatory Fury

**For some reason I had a lot of trouble staying focused on this chapter so bare with me if I made any mistakes. Also small note before we begin, Danzo still has both of his eyes, he's yet to lose his right one.**

**Now enjoy!**

* * *

"_He was the most unapproachable guy in the entire Academy, everyone was scared of him and rightfully so. Yet I still found myself becoming attached to him on the sole basis that he wasn't like everyone else. He was unique and different like Kushina, and I am deeply honored to have been called his friend." **~Namikaze Minato**_

**Naruto: Rise of Kazama Naruto**

Chapter 5: Friends and Predatory Fury

_Blood..._

_All he could see was blood..._

_The crimson liquid saturated every part of his body, seeping into his skin and it built up in his mouth staining his teeth crimson, it soaked into the soil and ran down between his fingers. Bits and pieces of flesh and gore were stuck underneath his finger nails and all up in his hair. His eyes were shadowed by his unruly blood red hair, his clothes were in tatter's revealing the multiple gashes, fatal and deep wounds inflicted upon his body. And yet it didn't seemed to affect him in the slightest as he raised his eyes, the red fringes parting way to reveal soulless blue eyes staring up into the sky. Out of every part of his vision all he saw was red, blood leaked out and ran down from his eyes as he looked down from the sky and the ominous solar eclipse._

_And down below, around him all he could see was corpses, there was too many to count, the death toll was far too numerous to even fathom. There was no distinguishing them apart for they were all killed in similar ways that made it seem like they were killed by something that wasn't human. It seemed as if a monster had ravaged them, tearing to pieces, ripping them limb from limb and tore out their hearts and gnawed off their skulls. It was as grotesque as it was fascinating to see, in his eyes it was a morbid fascination, the first of many to come of sights he would bore witness as a toddler._

_The sight was seared into his mind, to show him and for the future to remind him of the curse that was laid upon this world...but most importantly..._

"_**It's to remind you that this world is cruel and unforgiving. You must kill or be killed, this is the universal law of this world. But I don't need to remind you of that now do I?''** suddenly a deep voice spoke, jarring him and yet he could do nothing as the presence made itself known before him. It swirled up from the darkness and the blood of a million warrior's and shinobi alike, taking the form of a humanoid shape. It didn't look all that frightening on the outside, but the pure presence it gave off was so intense the very ground began to wither and die, the air itself became putrid to even breathe and the clouds in the sky slowly began to swirl above this humanoid. It was monstrous and demonic in every sense of the word and than it gave a grin that would have set the shinigami fleeing in fright._

_He could do nothing but stare, no fear with reflected in his eyes, just soulless azure orbs stared back at the supernatural entity that stood before him. He could see it held no eyes, but still he could feel it look directly at him. And stranger still he could feel that similar rush of familiarity bubble up from within him as he looked at this creature that was not bound by mortal limitations. Nor was it bound by the thread of destiny and the will of the Kami._

_''….No...I was born...in blood and steel, my first sight was of a hundred thousand dying around me, my very first breath was of death itself. I...will kill to survive, it is the only way I know.'' the blue eyed boy answered back and the creature's grin seemed to lessen and turn more into a smile of acceptance. It seemed...pleased with his answer._

_**''Hmph, good answer kid. I eagerly await to see how you progress with that mindset, my cursed child.''**_

_And before he could even utter a response the world began to spin and soon darkness overcame him..._

**OwO**

''Oi Naruto, you okay man?''

Slowly a pair of blue eyes began to creak open with the first sight he saw was the shadow of a head hovering over him with only a fem beams of sun light jutting around the aforementioned head. His eyes than caught the pair of equally azure blue eyes staring back at him in bemusement and a small bit of curiosity. Slowly he realized who it was and Kazama Naruto sighed in mental exhaustion, preferably he wanted to be alone and it wasn't that he was annoyed with this kid's presence it was just he wasn't in the right of moods for people he wasn't better associated with.

''Minato...'' Naruto greeted his fellow 5 year old who in turn seemed to show a sign of relief once he saw him respond. For a moment Naruto took the time to appraise Minato, he was orphaned by the war and brought to Konoha similar to his case in a sense. However the blond clung to a rather optimistic attitude and was rather upbeat than most of the other students Naruto had come across. He was average height for a 5 year old with a long mop of spiky gold hair and azure blue eyes which were similar to his own in a way. He had a simple white hoodie with a red lining going down the sleeves, black shorts and black sandals.

This was Namikaze Minato, Naruto's first _friend_ at he academy besides Kushina, he supposed he could see him as a friend since he hadn't outright ignored him like everyone else did and at least tried to be social with him. Briefly, he didn't feel the slight moving beside him as he saw Minato give the smallest of smiles before he spoke to his fellow shinobi-trainee

''Sorry bout waking you up, but it looked like you were having a weird nightmare or something. Plus Saiko-sensei has called us back in and since no one else was coming to get you two...'' he trailed on and Naruto completely missed what Minato said at the end as he frowned. He figured out the rest and gave another small sigh. His hand went to cover his eyes as he shook his head at Minato's words.

It had been a few days since the first day at the Academy and a few days since that incident occurred, but still ever since it happened everyone in the Academy besides a rare select few avoided him like the kami damned plague. They looked upon him in terror and steered clear from him, some down right fled the Academy if it was the only choice they felt was available to them. It didn't help Naruto in the slightest in regards to making friends at the Academy since everyone that didn't go to his classroom steered clear from him because of the rumors that circulated around him.

And the ones that actually came from his class was something else altogether...

He actually had to hold back Kushina a few times when some stared at him as if he were a monster, a demon in human skin. Some whispered behind his back and yet dared to not look his way without pissing themselves in fear. It seemed his little incident had mentally scarred most if not everyone in that classroom on some degree, some more than others. Some even dropped out of the academy because they were too terrified of being near Naruto or being in the same classroom as him.

He still remembered what happened, he was just thrusting his intent to protect Kushina onto the students, enforcing his intent with murderous ill will that he used on reflex when he was alone to paralyze his opponents and take them out before they even realized it. He was stopped though by Sakumo who had rushed back at the Academy when he felt the sudden rise of killing intent. He had to be forcefully taken out of the Academy by the Hatake and taken to the Hokage's office. He'd gotten a severe tongue lashing from Sakumo and he was asked why he did that and he could only say one thing that seemed to make Sakumo go silent and the Hokage look at him with an even more intense expression.

_'I was standing up for Kushina, no one else would and not even Saiko-san was doing anything. I only did what I felt needed to be done to enforce the fact that messing with Kushina, my friend, warrants death. Is that so wrong?'_ he told them without a hint of hesitation. He lived in a world that was filled with battle and death and knew nothing of self-restraint. Why should he restrain himself? It went against his very nature to hold back against an enemy that could potentially kill him. It's how he was raised and to be told otherwise conflicted with his very nature.

However to his surprise, the Hokage agreed with him and so did Sakumo to an extent, he stood up for a friend when no one else would, he did the right thing essentially. Only in the wrong manner, by what the Hokage said, he used an _excessive_ amount of force, instead he should have used the smallest amount to instill into the class he was her friend and any amount of threats toward her would be accounted for.

Strangely enough, after that meeting he was assaulted by Kushina outside the door, his fellow redhead was worried for him after what happened and he tried to console her the best he could. Yet it did little to ease her worries and since the past few days she stuck with him far more than she usually did. She was the last one to realize what Naruto had done until it was too late, but unlike everyone else who didn't like the fact at what he had done. Kushina _did, _well too be more precise when she was told of what happened she, to his confusion, lit up like the sun and gave him the biggest hug imaginable.

Since than she never left his side, she even had to forcibly be taken from him by her caretaker when it was time to go home. Besides that she was always there at his side, _by his side,_ to the moment he went back to the academy to the day he left. He would walk with her from start to end, walking her back home before leaving himself. It was a routine he'd grown used too and welcomed since not only did it allow him to be with Kushina it also allowed him time to think on matters that were beginning to plague him.

Speaking of which...

_'Who or what was that thing in my dreams?'_ the redhead thought with a small frown, whatever that creature was, it was not human no matter how much it looked like one. It's sheer presence was nothing like a mortal's, which was evident in the fact at how his presence could alter the very world around him in such a way. He dared not speak of it to anyone, especially to his Sakumo or the Hokage. He'd rather avoid someone else running through his head and end up possibly meeting whatever it was that was in his head. No, he'd deal with whatever it was himself, it would bring nothing but trouble if he involved other people with his problems.

Just the thought of it ever dragging Kushina into it made him tense up like never before...it made him feel just like he was when he was never found. Alone, tense, ready to kill at the slightest twitch.

Shaking his head Naruto released a sigh before he felt Minato nudge him and he glanced to his fellow classmate who pointed at his side while holding an amused grin on his face. ''By the way, you may want to wake your _girlfriend_.'' he said with a chuckle, at this Naruto's eyebrow perked up. Blinking, he finally felt the weight laying against his side and he turned to see his fellow redhead, Uzumaki Kushina sleeping peacefully and without a care in the world. Her long red hair lay sprawled out behind her and her bangs slightly covered her face.

_'So, she felt asleep again with me huh...'_ it happened occasionally and when it did Kushina always did look so content that he never wanted to wake her. But class was starting back up and he needed to wake her. Looking at her, Naruto disregarded the word girlfriend that Minato so aptly called her. He never understood what it meant nor did he put much thought into it as he ran a hand through her long hair. The way her hair ran in-between his fingers like silk was both comforting and affectionate in the way he looked at her. She seemed to feel this and gave a not so subtle hum of content and leaned her head against his touch. Naruto, ignoring Minato's chuckling from behind him, gently shook Kushina from her blissful slumber.

''Hey Kushina it's time to wake up, class is starting up again.'' he said and he gave a small smile when Kushina's face scrunched up, now in discontent of being awoken from her sleep.

''Mrgph...'' she grumbled in return and he sighed, parting her long bangs from her eyes and tucking them behind her ear. He shook her again, ''Come on now Kushina we can't be late, remember what Mito-san told us.'' he reminded her and this caused her to open her eyes though it was clear she didn't want too. Violet stared back into azure and she let out a small yawn, but she hadn't relinquished her position at his side, if the slight snuggle against him was any indication she wasn't wanting to leave anytime soon.

''….You're a good pillow...'' she said, sleep still her eyes and it was evident if he wasn't trying to wake her she would go back to sleep again. Feeling a chuckle of his own escape him he shook his head, ''Well you can sleep all you want after we're done here at the academy, right now it's time for class and we don't want to disregard what Mito-san told us, right?'' he said once again mentioning what Mito had told him and Kushina a few days prior to when they had to return to the academy after the whole incident.

It was actually surprising for Naruto when he met Mito, it was during the day of the incident that he was approached by the same lady he had ran into when he first came to Konoha. A woman who seemed to garner immense respect from everyone around her. She had brought him and Kushina along to her home in the Senju Clan Compound and allowed the two to stay for the day. It was during that time that he actually got to learn that Mito was in reality the wife of Konoha's deceased Shodai Hokage, Hashirama Senju. Or the fact she was a relative of Kushina since she too was an Uzumaki.

But during the time Mito would speak with him or Kushina or to the both of them together. It was over small matters and such greeting them and giving them a much more warmer welcome to Konoha than they first got. Telling them all sorts of things and over all it was just a nice meeting with the ancient Uzumaki. Naruto actually respected her to a degree that outshone the Hokage himself, all because she didn't seem to lie to him. She was always honest and upfront with him, completely and totally honest with him. Which he liked since the same could not be said for his own caretaker and the Hokage since he had sensed they were keeping things from him.

Mito had told him and Kushina that if they wanted to be accomplished shinobi, they first needed to attend the academy and stick it through. No matter how much grief it gave you, she said that if you two were together than the academy would be no trouble at all. Especially if we could make some friends in the academy than it would make it a lot easier to handle.

Which she was right, he and Kushina made a friend in Minato which made it easier for him to ignore the others that glared and spoke ill of him behind his back. Not that it bothered him or anything since he could have cared less, it was just the moment they began to ridicule Kushina was when he would act. Which is why he was internally glad Minato was there to help Kushina keep him calm and not let him do something he may regret later.

Or not, he didn't really care for many people that he wasn't closely associated with...

Shaking his head again from his thoughts he looked to see Kushina and give a nod, ''I know I know sheesh, you're starting to sound just like Mito-baa-chan ttebane.'' she said before she sat up and it was than she noticed the third person standing behind Naruto.

''Ah Mina-chan, what's up?'' she said causing Minato's eyebrows to twitch and this time Naruto actually allowed a smirk to cross his features. Oh yes, he quite enjoyed it when Minato suddenly began to twitch more and more at the oblivious and innocent Kushina before he exploded in comical anger.

''Oi! How many times do I have to tell you, I am NOT a girl! So stop saying my name like that!'' the Namikaze pulled at his hair, his eyes wide comic dementia. He truly looked he like would go insane if Kushina kept calling him that. Kushina merely tilted her head as she scrutinized him with a look that said _'I don't believe you in the slightest'._

''But you're far too girly looking to be a boy! There is no other explanation than the fact that you're a girl so accept that, it's much easier that way!'' she said with a grin and at this Minato opened his mouth in shock before facepalmed before looking at Naruto with a pitiful look. It was easy as day to see that Minato was at wits end when Kushina called him that, he couldn't help the fact he had such a slender physique.

Naruto could only chuckle causing Minato slump in depression, but taking pity on him he pat Kushina on the head before standing up before slapping Minato on the back causing him to stumble. ''Gah! What was that for?!'' he hissed rubbing his back with a wince, already he could feel a bruise forming from Naruto's small slap. _'I swear Naruto and his freakish strength is just scary!'_ he thought to himself.

Naruto didn't even note this as he stretched his arms, popping the kinks out of his body before looking to Minato. ''I shouldn't have to be the one telling you this, but _calm down_. Out of the three of us, you're the most level-headed of us and the most calm.'' he said which was true, Minato was the most calm and composed individual Naruto had met at the academy. He was pretty smart when it came to shinobi tactics and history so seeing him act like that was really out of place for him.

And he figured it was his duty as his friend to slap some sense into his head when he snapped like that.

At this Minato released a sigh before he looked at Naruto while scratching the back of his head with a slightly frustrated expression. ''Yeah I got it, no need to tell me twice...''

Kushina watching the interaction between the two could no longer hold in her laughter and it erupted. ''Hahahaha!'' she laughed, loud and hard, undeterred if others were watching as she laughed as her heart out at the two boys. Both of whom were looking at her with bewildered expressions and seeing this she took a moment to breathe before she pointed at them with a grin.

''I swear if you two had the same color of hair you would be like brothers by the way you two behave around one another.'' And she went back to laughing and she began to let tears escape her eyelids from how hard she laughing. This got worse when both Naruto and Minato's eyesbrows rose and looked at one another with blinking eyes before they looked back at Kushina while pointing an accusing finger at each other.

''NO WAY IN HELL!'' it was one of the rarer times when Naruto actually shouted as he and Minato shouted in comical sync at the laughing Uzumaki who upon seeing this act laughed even harder, holding her ribs as he and Minato blinked and looked at one another with confused expressions before they pointed at each other.

''STOP THAT!'' the two boys shouted at each other, again in a creepy sync that only caused Kushina laugh even more.

_''Hahahaha!''_ Kushina's melodious laughter filled the area for minutes until ti was time for they left for the class.

After calming down Naruto walked side by side with Kushina on his left, her cheeks flushed red from her fit of laughter and Minato on his right grumbling for a good minute, but as Minato and Kushina walked in Naruto began to follow them until he stopped.

_Snap!_

Suddenly the Kazama's ears perked and twitched at the smallest sound of a twig snapping in the far distance, he'd shown no other signs of his sudden awareness, but his eyes snapped in the direction he heard it come from. His body moved on it's own as he stepped away from the door and walked out a bit to see further where the sound came from.

''Naruto-kun?'' Kushina spoke out to him, but he heard nothing, everything went silent as he stared into the forest and his eyes began to dilate as he searched within the dense forestry. He looked, watched, and _waited_ until his eyes finally caught it. It was the briefest moment, but he caught sight of a humanoid figure watching from the tree's before he fled when his eyes found him. Suddenly Naruto bit his lip hard enough to draw blood as he restrained the sudden urge to jump out, to lash out with his kunai to kill the eavesdropper.

_'No Naruto, remember you aren't alone anymore, you can't go attacking without no warning.'_ it took nearly all he had to restrain his body from doing what it had always done since he was 3. To act on reflex and move on instinct, to kill any intruders without a moments hesitation. It was _hard_ and was becoming difficult not too give into it...

Before a hand went to his cheek and his vision was suddenly blocked by a pair of worried violet eyes that stared deep into his blue ones. ''Naruto-kun, answer me are you okay?'' Kushina' voice broke him from his state, her worried voice shattered his tensed state, causing his muscles to uncoil and his hands to pull away from reaching for his kunai. His eyes slowly reverted back to normal as he stared into Kushina's eyes for a good long minute.

He reached for her hand and closed his eyes with a sigh, ''Yeah, sorry about that just thought I...saw something is all.'' he hesitated and she caught it, but didn't speak on it. She knew there was things about her close friend that he hadn't spoke of and she wouldn't pry, she would wait until he was ready to speak about whatever it was that made him to be like this.

Smiling she leaned her forehead against his and held placed her other hand on his other cheek making sure he was staring directly into her eyes. ''What's wrong?'' she uttered so only he could hear her and he sighed as he closed his eyes.

''It's nothing...nothing at all...''

''Oh would you two kiss already? Geez!'' suddenly Minato spoke up causing Kushina's to snap in his direction with wide eyes and a increasingly bright blush coloring her cheeks. And suddenly she was berating the boy yet while Naruto held her hands yet his eyes went from his two friends before they cut across to where he had seen the one who had been there seconds ago. There had been a reason why he acted that way besides the fact he was their intruding on him and his friend's time in the academy.

Whoever it was had been throwing a small dose of killing intent towards Kushina...

_And that would never be forgiven!_

Beneath the bangs of his hair, Naruto's azure eyes flashed an unholy glow of purple before his mouth turned into a grim line.

The _Hunt_ was on...

**OwO**

''Goodnight Kushina'' Naruto spoke to his fellow redhead, he stood before her current residence which was just a small apartment complex. The Academy was done for today and they were released so Naruto and Kushina had bid Minato farewell and went on their way. He was walking her home as he usually did, acting the same as he always did to ease Kushina's worries.

Kushina beamed up at him with a smile that could light up a galaxy, and yet before she let go of his hands she spoke. ''And goodnight to you Naruto-kun, I'll see you tomorrow at the Academy, m'kay?''

He simply nodded, and she smiled even more, but as she was about to let go of his hands he was left surprised when she tightened her hold on him and surprised him by leaning forward and kissed his cheek. It was quick and chastise, but it was filled with an indescribable feeling she had for Naruto who was left wide eyed as Kushina quickly let go of his hands and turned away hiding her own blood red blush from his eyes.

''See you tomorrow, Naruto!'' she said his name with so much familiarity that he was left standing there gobsmacked at Kushina's boldness as she closed the door behind her.

And still he stood there for a moment, touching his cheek and still he felt the sensation from Kushina's lips and his fingers traced it, feeling the warmth and affectionate Kushina left in her wake for him. Taking hold of that and storing it deep in within himself Naruto took a breath and turned away from Kushina's home.

And it was only then, when his face was in the darkness that the Kazama allowed his expression to shatter into one of cold indifference, the only sign of an emotion at this point was the cold predatory fury smoldering his eyes. His eyes soon began to scan the area around him and he narrowed his eyes once he felt it again. The very same presence that was spying on him, Kushina and Minato at the academy.

Snapping upwards his eyes narrowed further once he caught the shadowed form of what looked to be a man crouched low on an apartment complex, _Kushina's apartment complex,_ who at this point was staring straight at him.

Than he fled...

Naruto acted on pure instinct, his muscled coiled and sprung and he jumped after the eavesdropper. He jumped onto the roof and gave chase after the one who had been so foolish to throw killing intent on Kushina, _his Kushina!_

It was because of this, Naruto was so deep in following the person he never noticed he was being followed from the shadows. His vision tunneled as one objective took priority over anything else, and that was to catch the eavesdropper and unleash upon him or her the consequences of aiming ill will towards his fellow redhead.

There was no mercy to be given, no hesitation was in his eyes as he dashed across the villages rooftops, not even caring for the fact as the person went faster so did he. Pushing his legs more and more until he was nothing more than a blur to even the most trained eye. Each landing cracked a rooftop, each jump sent him closer and closer to his target, each dash made it feel as it he was tunneling himself through the wind itself.

Soon enough he was leaving the village perimeter and was passing into it's forestry and as soon as he got close he was able to make out a few things from the person. He wore a full body black cloak with a hood that showed the back of his head.

But suddenly he felt his sense of danger kick in and he felt a subtle shift in the wind and saw the man spin around the in air and look toward him while performing a set of handseals. He saw for a moment the face of his now attacker and it was masked by a white porcelain mask similar to that of a Anbu, but it held not distinction between an Anbu's animal mask for it was just plain white.

Than he attacked...

''Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!'' the man inhaled causing his chest to puff outwards to an impossible degree before he exhaled, releasing a moderately sized fireball towards Naruto. And since he was still stuck in midair he couldn't maneuver away from the giant ball of fire heading towards him. As he inched closer and closer to the fireball, Naruto's eyes reflected it's fiery element with a surprise until he reacted on reflex.

Whipping out a kunai he plunged headfirst into the fireball before he flipped forwards with the kunai infront, but he was channeling his chakra into the blade.

And the results were amazing...

The giant fireball was cut in half from a spinning 5 year old Naruto, who landed on a tree branch and dashed toward his attacker, his kunai glowing with a longer reach, it looked as if the very wind itself was forming into the shape of a blade along the kunai. The boy gripped it in a reverse style as she chased after the attacker who let out a slight curse before he fleeing, but Naruto wouldn't let him.

His blue eyes were soulless at this point as he bounced among the tree branches before he finally reached his attacker. Taking his wind enhanced kunai he sliced his lower back, sharpened wind cutting through flesh and bone easily enough.

''Gah!'' the man let out a grunt of pain, but he twisted to deliver a kick to Naruto's head, but he ducked dashed from another branch and grabbed hold of the man's cloak and pulled him down. Throwing him downwards with his strength he ignored his pained cries as the redhead dove forward kunai in hand and eyes flashing with murderous intent.

The wind tickled at his skin as he dove after his newest prey and watched with morbid glee as he finally slammed into the ground causing a human sized crater. But before he could recover Naruto flipped and slammed both his feet into the lower part of his spine. He could feel the bone of the man's spine underneath him snap and break. The impact sent him deeper into the ground, but Naruto crouched low grabbed hold of his head and didn't hesitate to take his kunai and cut his head clean off his shoulders.

There was no struggle and Naruto forcefully pulled the man's head up ignoring pitiful cries and whimpers and took his kunai and decapitated him, silencing him forever. He held the head in hand with no amount of disgust in his eyes, he just stared into the face of his latest victim who had dared throw killing intent on the whom he deem his most precious friend.

_'This is the fate of anyone that does the same...I will find them...and I will kill them...'_ he thought to himself before he simply tossed the head aside letting hit the ground in a wet plop. He swung his kunai swinging the blood off, letting it splattered amongst the ground, but just as he was about to leave.

_Clap...clap_

He tensed before the body beneath him suddenly combusted, letting out a surprised shout he jumped away as the corpse burst into flames. But over the sound of the burning fire he heard the continuous sound of clapping and he looked in the direction to see where it was coming from. He peered into the darkness and he was rewarded with the sight of another man melding out from the darkness.

''That was very well done, Kazama Naruto, quick and efficient. Although, you have much to hone and more to learn, your movements if fast were sloppy and predictable.'' he spoke yet his words did no harm to him. He just stood there as the smell of burning flesh and boiling blood filled the air he watched as the man came out of the darkness fully and he was awarded to his mysterious observer's appearance.

It was an older man with a tan complexion, he was dressed in formal shinobi attire similar consisting of all black; a black long sleeved shirt with a mesh shirt underneath while he wore black pants that reached his calves which were wrapped from there and to his ankles in medical tape. Finishing it off he wore black shinobi sandals and with a Konoha flak jacket. He had eye level shaggy black hair and sharp black eyes, around his forehead was the standard Konoha headband tied around with a black cloth; and he also sported a x-shaped scar on his chin. And strapped to his left hip was a pouch and over his back was a normal ninjato.

Seeing him, Naruto ignored the way his eyes crinkled into a cold stare as he readied his body for another attack.

''How do you know my name?'' he asked, and the man simply responded. There was no need to beat around bush at this point and it was time to get the introductions out of the way.

''It's not hard not to know about the _'Boy of Genocide'_ as you are so aptly called. I am the Hokage's Anbu-Division ROOT Commander, Shimura Danzo, and I think it's time we had a chat, boy.'' Danzo said as he stared back, evenly into the soulless blue eyes of the Kazama who narrowed his eyes at the title the man just spoke of.

He could already tell this wasn't going to be just a normal afternoon chat...

* * *

**Done! Now as some of have you noticed, I didn't do a timeskip this chapter and that's because I wanted to set certain aspects from what happened in previous chapters out of the way before I did. I also wanted to set a foundation for Naruto's future as a shinobi in place.**

**Tell me what you thought in a review, give me all your criticism!**

**Now time to power nap!**


End file.
